P&O Cruises Drinks Package Review. Is it for you?
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- čas přidán 31. 10. 2022
- Here is our review on P&O cruises drinks package We will give you our advice if you should take the drinks package or not when cruising. We will ask the question is the drinks package for you! This is the very latest review on the drinks package and brought to you in a very simple and basic presentation for you to fully understand what is and is not included in the drinks package We are happy to answer any questions so please feel free to leave questions in the comments #pandocruises #drinks #package
Thank you so much for this, it was really helpful. I am on the Britannia in January as a solo traveller and I have been struggling to make a decision on this. I am not a heavy drinker but after yours tips, I think it will be worth my while, especially considering the amount of water I drink.
Thank you so much for watching our video and your lovely comment. Have a fantastic cruise I’m sure you will
Thanks for the analyses. It's always a problem with us. I am the only one who drinks alcohol as a couple and we both have to have the same package. Royal Caribbean was the only line which allowed me to buy a full package and my husband the non-alcoholic one. With the other lines, we just paid as we went. This is what we'll do again when we are on the Iona this summer. We don't feel then we have to buy another drink, or two, or three to make sure we break even.
Very informative as I am going on my first cruise 2023….. will definitely be having the drinks package
Thank you so much for watching and we are really pleased it has helped enjoy your cruise
Great info again about the drinks package
We have always taken the drinks package since we watch your last vlog on the drinks package and your recommendation.
Our average on our last 7 day cruise was £60 per person per day
that's alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks coffee and water
We have paid before boarding for our drinks package for our cruise in April, but did not realize you have to get a sticker for the card so many thanks for that.
we also would highly recommend the drinks package
once again great vlog and great info
Thank you so much for watching our video and your lovely comment. Yes, it does appear to work for us as well. As you said with the alcoholic drinks. The coffee is the waters mock tails and everything. Have a fantastic cruise. I’m sure you will. Thank you again for watching
Thanks for the info both, we're due on the iona in May which will be our second cruise following a med cruise on marrella. Everything is free pretty much on marrella so its great to have these informative blogs to help us make a choice. It's a yes for us I think.
Thank you so much for watching our video and your great comment. Have a fantastic cruise in May, wish we were going haha
Thanks guys, a simple & informative review of the drinks package...🤩🤩
This is a more fair assessment, we always get our money’s worth thank you both
Thank you for watching the video and thank you for your comment
Have been waiting for this to see your views. I definitely agree with you, we had the package and it worked great for us. It's nice to see people who have used it passing comment as loads give their negative view but have never used it.
Thank you so much for watching and your great comment. Totally agree a lot of negativity from people which I think is a lack of understanding of the package for some reason people focus on alcoholic drinks and not the range of other drinks that come within the package as well
@@wellerjam they do indeed. Please don’t think we are saying it’s great, it just works for us and we always say it isn’t for everyone just try to encourage people to work out if it would be beneficial for them or not. Thank you for watching the video and your comment
Hi guys. Thank you very much for a very helpful and informative guide to the drinks package. We have done packages on Princess Cruises which include a lot more so we’re not sure about this time on P & O. We have however purchased in advance. Only just watched your blog. 😮
Hi, thank you for your comment. You are quite right, however, it is all they currently offer and as you can’t really shop around, it’s pay-as-you-go or that drinks package! And with that in mind, it’s still worked out cheaper for us to get the package not to have it, regardless of what other cruise companies are offering if you know what I mean. Thank you very much again for your comment, and thank you very much for watching our video.
Great video guys. We had heard some very negative reports and were not going to bother. This video changed our minds and we are so glad we decided to get it. Our onboard credit covered the cost and helped make this a wonderful holiday on our first ever cruise. Thanks for the positive approach 😊
Hi thank you so much for watching our video and your lovely comment. I think it’s only right that we review with an open mind, honesty and allow people to make their own decisions if it will work for them or not. I am so pleased you had a great time and the package worked for you well thank you again
@@shaunandsarahjanetravel , hi, great video, going on Azura 6th Jan from Glasgow, question is,, if you book the Ultimate Package on the 2nd morning, do you get charged 6 nights or 7 nights and would I be able to use my 50quid on board credit towards the cost...Thanks..
@@robertmiller7649 hi
You would get charged for the only days remaining so 6 days if buying on the next day. Yes you can use all your onboard credit towards the package. But remember if you buy anything on that boarding day before you buy the package it will use your onboard credit before charging your card. Hope this helps. Many thanks
Can you just buy drinks package one day at a time? Or does it have to be for the full cruise (14 days in our case)
@@joyceellis9258 Hi no sadly you have to buy the package for the entire cruise Thank you for watching and thank you for your question
Thanks for the information guys
Brilliant video. Good honest review. Excellent
Thank you so much for watching our video and your fantastic comment. All the very best, Shaun and Sarah
Great video to watch and informative, thank you. We are due to do a 24 day cruise October 2024 Southampton to Caribbean and back, and the cost of drinks package is almost £2000, Think that we can’t do it as so much and will just have to minimise what we drink on board.
Thank you so much for watching our video. That sounds amazing. I would love to do a cruise like that. You’re not wrong it does sound a lot of money and I’m not sure I could keep the pace up for that long lol. All the best to you, and thanks again, Shaun
thanks for this - I found this v helpful
Thank you very much for watching, we are really pleased you found it useful
Very informative we think that the drinks package is great for us thanks
Thank you very much for watching the video and your great comment. We are really pleased we could help Shaun and Sarah.
Hi guys. Just to say the Christmas cruise was a huge success! The drinks package was excellent value for money and after keeping a tally of drinks as we went along by the end of the cruise we had drunk more than we paid for! Hoorah! Quids in 🎉 And we had no probs with not wearing tuxedos - just shirt ties and dark jackets/trousers. In fact - we even saw some guys wearing less than that! We loved the cruise so much - we’re gonna book again for Christmas 2023. Happy New Year to you all and look forward to watching you again soon.
Glad to read that. We board the Azura on Saturday for our cruise, and Ive been reading a lot of negative reviews about P and O and Azura! Some people have very high expectations. This is our 9th cruise, been with Marella, NCL, Celebrity, Princess and Seabourn, and loved every one of them.
Awesome. Really pleased it worked out for you and you had a fantastic cruise. That’s one cruise we would love to do one day Thank you so much for getting back to us and letting us know how you got on
@@joyceellis9258 enjoy your cruise!
@@shaunandsarahjanetravel ha ha. We booked it already for this year ! only 11 months to go
Thanks for a great in depth video - a few things sprung to mind - is the water out of the taps drinkable? Or should you always use bottled? And are there water fountains where you can fill up a reusable bottle? First time cruiser in august and trying to plan for the kids as they only drink water so package wouldn’t be useful. Thanks
Hi thank you for watching.
In answer to your questions the tap water is drinkable and there are water machines in the buffet which is always available, but I believe you need to use a clean beaker rather than reusable bottles which you cannot use due to hygiene reasons.
Many thanks
Sarah
Thanks for your advice. Boarding Azura on 7th January. 8th time cruising but our first with P & O. I have a questions, not about the drinks package 😜. Can you only go to the theatre if you pre-book it? And must you prebook your table for dinner too? All this takes a bit of getting used to! Love your channel.
Hi thank you very much for watching our videos and your comment. At the time we went yes you did have to pre-book the theatre. It depends on your dining package and if you are wanting to go to a specialty restaurant. Speciality restaurant do you have to be pre-booked and if you have chosen freedom dining you can pre-book or arrive at your desired time and if there isn’t a table available they will call you when one is
we find it brilliant the package even when off ship as one day might be a bit under but sea day miles over so it well balance out and as you say spanish tax hits you xx
Absolutely thank you so much for watching
One thing you have to take into consideration with the £6.95 drinks limit is that I believe if your chosen drink costs more than the £6.95 then that drink isn't included in the package BUT you get 20% off the price of your drink eg a £9 cocktail will cost you £7.20 out your OBC.
Thank you very much for watching our video and your comment. Yes, you are absolutely right. If you choose to drink over the limit, then you indeed get a 20% discount, but have to buy the drink outside of the package, which really is something that needs looking at! To be honest, the fair way of doing it would be for you just to pay the difference Between the £6.95 and the price of the drink that you want. Thank you again for watching.
@shaunandsarahjanereviews383 Wow, and suddenly they've changed all the packages. 😄
Very informative video thank you both. I have a question which seems rather silly but does a cocktail class as one alcoholic drink or counts how many alcoholic drinks are actually in it?
Hi no question is a silly question don’t you worry. Yes they are indeed included within the alcoholic numbers
Thank you very much! This was very helpful. Can you buy just 1 ultimate and 1 soft drinks package, if only 1 of the adults drinks alcohol? Or you both have to have the same drinks package?
Hi thank you for watching. Sadly both adults in the cabin have to have the same package
Thank you ! Did you find Costa very busy ? My kids love those refresher drinks !
Hi, thank you very much for watching our video. No, not at all. We never had to wait long to get our drinks.
Hi, thanks for an interesting insight into the drinks package. We are sailing in Iona this July to Norway. Am I correct in guessing that a gin and tonic would count as say £5 for a single gin (therefore below the £6.95 limit) + a no-charge tonic? Also, you would not order a bottle of wine but you would order several glasses of wine? Is there anywhere you can download a drinks price list?
Hi
Yes gin and tonic would count as one drink on the package and yes you would order glasses of wine rather than a bottle which would also include on the package. As far as I know there isn’t a price list online probably because prices may change. We found there was always a good choice of wine within the price limit of the package. Different bars do different ones but always a good selection.
Many thanks
Very informative video thanks. Just wondered if my husband would be allowed to get a drink each for both of us at one of the bars (using both our cards) or would I have to be there in person? I take longer to get ready in the evening, so it would be good if he could go and get me a drink and bring it back to the cabin for me.
Hi, and thank you so much for watching our video. Yes, there is no problem with that whatsoever. You take your time getting changed and ready and keep sending him out with your cards to get the drinks. No problem
Great Video and very informative and although I would buy it again as it saved me money. But I personally found this one of the most complicated drinks packages at Sea. This for me had changed dramatically since 2019 that year I think there was only 3/4 cocktails not in the package this year having only come off Ventura a week ago I think there was only about 8 cocktails at £6.95. But it’s the rules that drive me insane. Take the beer flight for instance which is well under the £6.95 limit but not included. A number of mixers are not included. Why can’t you have a double if they count it as 2 drinks from your 15 in the package nope only singles served. Obviously only grown up to know my limits if I’m paying full price lol. You can now only have a drink every 15 minutes wether it’s alcoholic or non alcoholic. So we came back in from a hot day so I was thirsty ordered a water then was told I had to wait another 10 mins to order an alcoholic drink 😮 This package is value for money but nowhere near the same level as Royal Caribbean or Celebrity obviously this is just my opinion.
Hi thank you very much for your comment and watching the video. Yes it is one of those things that doesn’t suit everyone the price increases between 2019 and this year didn’t really affect us just purely because the drinks we chose to have so turned out to be better value, however I totally get your point that a lot of drinks were restricted due to the price increases maybe they should look at increasing the value of drinks that you can get on the package to make it fairer
Hi, thanks for the great video. Very informative. Would you happen to know if light/slimline tonics and Diet Pepsi is included or whether they’d need to be purchased separately to the package please?
Hi thank you very much for watching the video. I think it is but I am going to check and get back to you if I may
Yes those drinks are included in the package
@@shaunandsarahjanetravel thanks for clarifying
Brilliant review. Quick question. We dont have children, is it still worth it just for 2 adults. I never realised water cans are included. We spent lots on water just for our cabin kettle. Janetx
Thank you so much for watching our video and your comment. I would suggest depending on what you drink yes. It works out a good deal just the two of us with the mix of water, coffee, cocktails, non-alcoholic cocktails, wine, beers etc
Hi great info . So does the 15 drinks make up of say 5 coffees 5 soft drinks and 5 cocktails then you’d have to pay for any other drinks say water? Thanks
Hi thanks for watching and your comment. No the 15 are only alcoholic drinks all the soft drinks the coffee and water are unlimited. Thanks again
Great video the Costa coolers are they part of the 15 drinks or are they with the 15 minute allowance ?
Hi, now, we need to be super careful here as they have changed the package names and introduced a new deluxe package, so we will need to do a new review on. This looks like the coolers are not included on the package they once were and you may well need the deluxe package, which is much more expensive.
@@shaunandsarahjanetravel yeah we’ll be having the delux package I worked out
2 costas
4 beers
4 cocktails and a couple of soft drinks and that’s over £55 so well easy get through that even on a shore day lol 😂
Hi can I ask, you said in the video that you need to buy the package on day 2 at the latest as you said you could be charged a tax depending on where you are, I am going to the Caribbean will that be subjected to tax do you know as I was hoping to pay with my onboard credit. With thanks Julie
Hi thank you and a great question let me clarify that for you. You can purchase the drinks package up to and including day two of the cruise. Because the drinks package is prepaid it is not subject to any additional tax so please do not worry
Thinking of going on feb 14th should we go saver or spend , nice vid ,new to cruising
Hi
Thank you for your message.
With saver you don’t choose your cabin only your grade. You don’t choose your dinning, but you can say a preference but it won’t be guaranteed. Also you will need to pay for the courtesy bus at the ports and you don’t get any onboard credit, however it is a cheaper fare, so you will need to take all this into consideration when deciding. Look to see the difference in price is my advice and weather choosing your cabin and dinning is important to you.
Thank you for watching
Thanks for the guide. I think £80 a day (£1,120 for a fortnight) is insanely expensive. I’m not a big drinker but my GF likes a wine with dinner and the odd cocktail. I think for our trip on Arvia in September we’ll skip a package. I’d rather go back to the room for a cuppa!
Hi, thanks for watching and for your message. No indeed, it’s not for everyone that’s the point of making sure everyone has as much information as possible so people can make choices. Have a lovely cruise and thank you again for watching all the best.
I'll stick with marella,, roll on 2nd wk of May...drinks upgrade package 70 for all wk per person,, unlimited cocktails, beers, spirits, water, cans of coke...if we do go with p&o...Will just save our money up for it...but great video guys...👍👍
quick question the 15 drinks limit is that just the alcholic drinks? are the coffees and water unlimited ?or included in that 15
Hi
Thank you for watching. The 15 drinks is on alcoholic drinks. Coffees, water and all soft drinks are unlimited.
Hope this answers your question.
Many thanks.
Hi, we go on our 1st ever cruise this year, I’ve heard you have to use some kind of lap top to order drinks when on the drinks package and not allowed to go to bar..... is this the case and is it a struggle when ordering
Hi. Thank you for your question and watching our video. It definitely was not the case, there was absolutely no difference between ordering drinks if you were pay-as-you-go or drinks package there have been some changes however with the drinks package and we are working on an updated video at the moment so keep watching and we will upload a new drinks package review very soon.
Hi, thanks for this video, it's helped make me realise that they are a good idea. I've got one question... sorry if its a daft question... when do you pay for your drinks package on P&O? Do you pay upfront or does it go on your cruise account and you pay at the end? Thanks 😊
Hi thank you very much for watching and we are really pleased it has helped. If you sign up on board then it is put on your account which you set up for like normal at the end of the cruise but I guess technically you purchase it when signing up initially
Thanks for your reply. We initially had ruled out a drinks package but after seeing your video, we've had a rethink and are going to get one when we go on Ventura in Oct 2024... so long away! 😪 😂 Thanks 😊
@@nicolaw972 We are really pleased that the information has helped. It’s only when you stop and work out everything that’s included and what you would normally have that you realise actually it is good value and not just about all alcohol. I know your cruise does sound a long time away however that time will flash past don’t worry and you will have an amazing time happy cruising
Hi guys just a quick question.
Can you use the drinks package for bottles of wine with dinner or would you get them by the glass on your package?
Hi, if you have the drinks package, you can get wine in all the restaurants per glass not per bottle, however, you can keep asking for glasses of wine so it doesn’t really matter I don’t think
What would have been handy to know is,
Is there drinks included with just the standard fare.
For example, without any drinks package, do you get a coffee or OJ with breakfast, or 1 drink (either alcoholic or non) with lunch/dinner?
Hi, thank you for watching and for your message. Jim and Breakfast. Yes there is free tea and coffee and fruit juices obviously not Costa Coffee other than that. No, there are no drinks included in the standard fair you either pay as you go or get a drinks package. Which is either the soft drinks package, or the ultimate drinks package? Thank you again for watching.
Hi guy's loved the vid'. Is the 500ml bottle/can of water classed as one of the 15 a day ?
Hi thank you so much for watching the video and your lovely comment. No the cans or bottles of water do not count in your 15 alcoholic drinks. Thanks again
Hi , when you have your drinks package is it 1 drink at a time , if there are 2 of you can you order 2 drinks at once ? Or do we get a card each and then we can order when we want, either o& us ?
Hi if you get the drinks package then it runs off your cruise card so if there are two of you you can order a drink each at the same time we have no problem at all. Thank you very much for watching the video
I’m going with p&o on a Norwegian cruise in September. I’m a little confused….so does your drinks package allow you to have up to 15 hot/cold drinks a day?
Hi no all soft drinks and hot drinks are completely unlimited V 15 is simply the limit on alcoholic beverages. Thank you for watching.
Also the 1 drink at a time rule is this alcohol only? I.e could you order water & cocktail at same time for example
It is supposed to be one at a time however we were able to get water with any drink that we ordered
We’ve just booked our very first cruise - Ventura out of Southampton to Spain and Portugal in May - so just starting the important research, being total beginners. Your video is great but one aspect is unclear…. Our travel agent recommended the soft drinks package (at around £20 vs £40, I think). What your views on this? Neither my wife and I are big drinkers and, if I understand what you have said correctly, I think we might be better off with the soft drink package if we don’t have more than three alcoholic drinks a day. Am I missing anything?
Hi
Many thanks for your message.
What I would suggest is look into what drinks are included in the soft drinks package and compare it with the soft drinks of the ultimate package as it includes the Costa drinks and bottled water, obviously look at what you would drink on a daily basis and cost it up. Just choose which one you think would suit you best.
Many thanks Shaun and sarah.
Are the mock tails part of the 15 allowance or unlimited 15 min ?
Hi, really sorry for the delay. No they are not counted within the 15. There are now new drinks packages that they have released so we are going to review that as soon as we possibly can they have the current three which they call by a different name and have put the price up, and there is a new deluxe drinks package as well.
This has probably been asked already but as you didn’t use up the daily amount have you worked out what your drinks would have cost without the package
Yes we did we checked out on a daily basis the drinks we had what they would’ve cost and what the daily price of the package was and we still saved money even though we didn’t use up the full entitlement. Thank you very much for watching the video and getting in touch
Can you use your cruise credit towards cost of drinks package do you know? Thanks x
You can indeed when purchasing the package on board within the first two days
Here’s another quick q. about dress codes. Normally, we always wear a tuxedo on formal nights. But as I start planning my packing for our Christmas cruise with P&O in the Canaries I’m asking myself do I really wanna pack that heavy suit and extra shirt and shoes when I have a limited luggage allowance (charter flight by P&O). So - when you were away this year did you notice any adult men in just smart jacket and tie (not business suit) on formal nights in the bars and restaurants?I don’t want to cause problems.
Hi. On celebration night/formal then a shirt and tie is perfectly fine to enter the restaurants and certain bars as well. This is not required for buffet dining
So on formal night would just dark trousers, shirt and tie be acceptable for my husband? My hubby also doesnt want to pack a suit and heavy shoes!
@@joyceellis9258 that’s exactly what I’m going to wear - but with a dark blue blazer too.
@@shaunandsarahjanetravel thnx Shaun! Appreciate the advice.
Hi guys. Just to say the Christmas cruise was a huge success! The drinks package was excellent value for money and after keeping a tally of drinks as we went along by the end of the cruise we had drunk more than we paid for! Hoorah! Quids in 🎉 And we had no probs with not wearing tuxedos - just shirt ties and dark jackets/trousers. In fact - we even saw some guys wearing less than that! We loved the cruise so much - we’re gonna book again for Christmas 2023. Happy New Year to you all and look forward to watching you again soon.
definitely not for us. We would spend nowhere near that amount.
Hi thank you very much for watching. No indeed it is not for everyone which is why it’s sensible for everyone to work out roughly what they think they may have across the day of alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, coffee is hot chocolate and water. I guess it’s like anything really some people use the spa and others don’t so it really is only if it suits you
Is the 15 min wait only for alcohol or does it apply to soft drinks too?
Hi, yes it is 15 minutes between any drink thank you very much for watching our video
If you go to one of the speciality restaurants and pay extra for your meal, can you still use your ultimate drinks package in these places
Hi. Absolutely no problem at all. You can use the ultimate drinks package in all the restaurants, including the speciality restaurants. Thank you for watching.
good evening to you both
Just to let you know if you buy your drinks package before you board the sticker for your card is already attached to the card now
We had the drinks package for 2 persons cost £399
We worked out with costa coffees ,water, mocktails, cocktails and wine we would have spend £732
coffee £2.50 each water £1.20 each mocktails £4.00 each all cocktails and wine we had £6.95 each
Not saying how much of the £732 was alcoholic drinks, can not remember ?
That is great, thank you very much for the update
Hi, is the 15 drinks per person or per cabin, great info guys 👍
Hi thank you very much for watching our video. The 15 drinks are per person
Hi guys. Do I have to have a drinks package or can I pay for drinks on my cabin card?
Hi. No, not at all. There is no requirement for you to purchase a drinks package. You can use your cruise card and pay for drinks as you go if that suits you better thank you for watching the video.
The standard drinks package is now 80 pounds per perspn per day!!!
Unfortunately now out of date info but still a good watch
How soon after one drink can you get another one?
15 minutes for an alcoholic drink
I don't drink whereas my partner does is it not possible to buy a drinks package for one person? Thanks
Hi, no sadly not everyone in the cabin has to have the drinks package.
can you on the drinks package take a last drink back to cabin
Hi, thanks for watching the video. Yes, there is no problem with getting a drink to take back to the cabin on the drinks package. We also took a drink back to the cabin while we were getting changed for the evening.
You are allowed to take 1 litre of spirits or wine per person on board. Far better to do that and buy bottles of coke etc when you are off the ship.
Day 13 of our 14 night cruise. Never again with P and O. Superior balcony cabin toilet flush has been broken for 11 out of the 13 days. Re drinks package…dont bother. Half the drinks advertised on the ship are not available! Ran out of draft beer, peroni, even pinot grigio for two nights! Sorry, but worst cruise ever!
Hi, thank you for watching our video. I’m really sorry that your experience wasn’t as you would like it and was very disappointing. It’s a shame that they couldn’t sort it out for you.
Yes, sadly first and last cruise with P and O. A huge amount of problems they need to sort out, staffing levels being the worst one!
@@joyceellis9258 we noticed exactly the same with the staffing issues. We mention this on our Vlogs as well, especially at the start of the cruise when we couldn’t find any drinks waiters at all.
Open up a can and you're drinking water..bit like a can of Fosters then 😳😆😆
Lol thanks for watching
Answer. Unless you're Oliver Reed, no.
I think that is the point that it is not for everyone, and of course it’s not all about alcoholic drinks. It’s all the other beverages that are available as well. Thank you very much for watching and your comment.
Blimey. You are only quids in because you are forcing yourself to have more than 7 drinks a day… you would never drink this much normally. My wife and I have on average 2 drinks each per evening max therefore it would be madness to buy a drinks package. Really drinks packages are for heavy drinkers or those wanting to get drunk every night ( which on P+O, Butlins On sea) is very many….
Good luck👍