Chasie

This is a subject that is greatly misunderstood and P&O need to proceed very carefully if they are to get it right. Celebrity started planning their route to a drinks package over 10 years ago. Their market is different, their passengers are slightly different but the result of getting the Drinks Package right is the same. They have raised their income on drinks immeasurably since it started to get popular back in 2012/2013. It's now almost mandatory and it comes 'free' with almost every cruise. For them to say that is first class marketing. Of course it's not 'free' but legally, after seven years of preparation they can get away with that. It's $60 day on Celebrity but over the last seven years they have slowly, slowly raised the price of a pint of lager to £8.50. So you get the package and you save a fortune. I don't see it that way but thousands of happy passengers do. It's clever, and when you are in port you are buying your  booze off-ship so your not drinking Celebrity's booze (which you've already paid for). It's win win for them. However, a pint of Stella on P&O is £3.95 and Peroni is only £4.10 so if you compare it to £39.95 per day it doesn't work. P&O are trying a quick fix to making more money on booze with a Drinks Package because other lines are coining it in with them. It doesn't work like that. Do it well and they'll clean up, try to cut corners and they'll shoot themselves in the foot. P&O regular customers are not the ones that go on a weekend booze cruise for a hen night or stag party.

My wife and I were on a P&O cruise last year during one of the drinks package trials. It was not an experience I wish to have again, I hope they have ironed out the wrinkles and given the staff full training on implementation, otherwise it quickly becomes a farce. We had great difficulty buying one and it was all being done on paper forms, the only person capable was in the coffee shop. We went to the main bar immediately after the drill (as instructed by an officer), they were busy doing receipts from the previous cruise and told us to go to our rooms and get rid of our life jackets and come back later. How rude! We came back later and were now told to go to the coffee shop. All bars were meant to be doing them - this was simply not true. In the dining room on the first evening I was presented with a bill to sign and told, wrongly, we could not use the package in the dining room. I complained and was re-imbursed on the third visit to reception, nobody could decide what to do. There were all kinds of other glitches and compared to Celebrity it was a farce. I read the T&C's very carefully and still think their policy on wine wouldn't stand up in court under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968. You can buy any drink up to the value of £6.95. My wife ordered a large glass of Pinot Grigio priced at £6.95 and was told you could only have a standard glass of wine on the Drinks Package. Come on chaps, if you're going to try to pull that one you need to specifically detail that variation in your T&C's - a judge would throw you out of court. I hope the drinks package corrects this issue and ensures everyone knows how to sell and implement a drinks package. P&O stand to increase their sales profit immeasurably with a drinks package but you must not 'appear' to be upsetting your passengers.

I thought the limit of 15 drinks, according to the P&O literature, is restricted to the alcoholic drinks. Your coffees, fizzy and water do not count as part of the 15.

You’re absolutely correct. That’s why it was continuously frustrating when we had to keep telling the waiters and bar staff they were wrong.

Most cruise lines operate the package with trained staff. I was not impressed with the training of the staff on the Azura. Sorry, I love P&O but I hate it when staff are put in the firing line with poor knowledge of the product or service. Both have gone down (in my opinion) on P&O over the last five years. Basic civility to the customer can be learned in a couple of hours. Then you learn by shared experiences. (Or the poor service spreads like a disease).

Just to dispel some misconceptions. Most (all?) cruise lines that have a drinks pack will still swipe your card otherwise they are abandoning all computerised stock keeping and cost effectiveness. On P&O you will get a receipt that shows a cost of £00.00 for all your drinks. For those that think 15 drinks is excessive; I normally have a morning speciality coffee and start drinking water (2 litres a day on an air-conditioned ship. Two or three diet cokes around the pool (and more water) and maybe a Pina Colada. By the time I’ve had my four bottles ( you can only have small on the drinks pack) I’m rapidly approaching 10 drinksbefore the pee dinner drink at the bar. Two glasses of wine (ad fizzy water) with dinner and I’ve almost done my allocation before going out for the night. 15 drinks is not excessive and quickly gets used up.

Thanks for that. Seems to be a reasonable option for those who like a lot of drinks but £39.95 per day for the ultimate package (alcoholic, non alcoholic and Costa coffee and tea) will be poor value for me. Full marks for offering it as an option though and much better doing it this way than adding £280 to the cost for an all inclusive 7 night cruise.

Drinks pack not worth the trouble on Azura. You are restricted to 15 drinks per day. What’s wrong with that I hear you say. Well, I ordered a large glass of wine for £6.95 (within budget) to be told “you can’t have a large glass of wine if you’re on the drinks package”. What a pain at the dinner table, where are all the wine waiters when you’re drinking wine from small glasses?!

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We absolutely loved Britannia. It does divide opinion, but we found it fantastic. The lifts are a nuisance, but that really was our only gripe. Have a lovely time.

I totally agree. Lifts are a disaster and could wreck your cruise unless you work it out quickly. Ship is the best in the fleet and 9 meters wider than the rest which not only makes it very spacious inside but adds to its overall stability. Serenity area (and pool) has no kids and its own bar and lounge area. Try it, it’s heaven. We’ve been in it twice now and have two more cruises booked on it in 2019. It’s a great ship (with a slightly mad lift designer).

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I think it unlikely that a company as large as P&O would go to the trouble and expense of launching a new product without hoping its a success and makes them more money [emoji848]

 

 

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I was on Azura recently and got the drinks package. V expensive and the staff didn’t have a clue how it worked. Was told in MDR we couldn’t get soft drinks with it. Wrong! You are restricted to 15 drinks per day. Nothing wrong with that surely. Well, I ordered a large glass of wine for £6.95 (within price budget) to be told you can’t have a large glass of any wine on the drinks package. They are still trying to find their feet with it. It’s going to fail unless they start training the staff to know how to sell it correctly. It’s doomed on P&O I’m afraid. Once our table wine steward knew we were on it she vanished. What a slap in the face from our favourite cruise line. Complained in writing, heard nothing! Oh dear.

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Also the measures on most US ships are larger too but I have always found the package to be worth it to me. I’ll be buying it next Sunday on the Azura!

Just got back from Fjords on Azura and we had the drinks package. Wouldn’t buy it again. Few staff know the ins and outs and finding somewhere to buy it is not easy. Java Coffee Bar is best but very slow. You are restricted to 15 drinks per day. Sounds a lot until you order a large glass of wine only to be told you can only have a small glass of wine on the package. There are other pit falls so don’t just ‘do the math’ and buy it.

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I believe that in the new year, you will no longer be able to take unlimited amounts of alcohol on board - so make the most of it while it lasts!

So it's official. P&O will not allow alcohol to be taken on board for consumption on the ship except for the entry port where you will be allowed to take on 1 litre per passenger. Fortunately, P&O are one of the more reasonable lines where alcohol prices are concerned at between £3.50 - £3.95 for a draught lager like Stella. With the pound at such a low rate you have to pay around £8 for a pint of draught lager on Celebrity if you don't take the drinks package at around £800 for a 14 night cruise. There's food for thought (with a pint of P&O lager of course).

Has anybody had an experience of the latest version of WiFi on the Ventura. I know they have three usage packages but I'm trying to work out which one to get in January for a 28 day cruise to Barbados. I need to be able to get emails, small amount of Facebook but more importantly I run websites so I need to be able to upload and download small (30-300 kb) files to alter website copy and images. I will gladly buy an all in one 24/7 package for 28 days but does anyone know what the cost is. Tried P&O "ask when you get on board". Tried other notice boards and got lots of useful information which contained no answers to my question. Anybody shed any light?

Has anybody had an experience of the latest version of WiFi on the Ventura. I know they have three usage packages but I'm trying to work out which one to get in January for a 28 day cruise to Barbados. I need to be able to get emails, small amount of Facebook but more importantly I run websites so I need to be able to upload and download small (30-300 kb) files to alter website copy and images. I will gladly buy an all in one 24/7 package for 28 days but does anyone know what the cost is. Tried P&O "ask when you get on board". Tried other notice boards and got lots of useful information which contained no answers to my question. Anybody shed any light?

I had not heard that, very interesting...... So will it remain Cellar Masters?

No Cellar Masters is not going to be converted (source: second highest source on the ship, work it out). Feedback suggested it would be an expensive flop with the UK market and ignored by the Americans.

The best item you can take on board is a selection of fridge magnets. All cabins are made of steel so if something is important; excursion tickets, reminder for an event, ticket to the Captain's Table - whack it on the wall.