Pidgeofcdf

Whilst I don’t think it’s good value (unless you are a very heavy drinker), and I wouldn’t want to be restricted to what I could and couldn’t have, those contemplating not taking it up until the end of the 2nd day may want to rethink.

 

On round trips from Southampton, the 2nd day is always a sea day and I would think that you are far more likely to get your money’s worth when you are on the ship for 24 hours than a Port day when you may have to cram your 15 drinks into an evening.

 

I wonder, does the package allow for any and all drinks up to the price cap? The reason I ask is that some drinks packages on other lines restrict which brands are included (certain beers, certain brands of spirits etc) which, again, I wouldn’t like. I also think it’s a damned cheek that you can’t just pay the difference for more expensive drinks rather than just get 20% discount off the full price.

I never said about waiting till the end of the second day, I simply said it was good that you don’t have to purchase on the first day. By the time you board, unpack and muster and explore on the first day it wouldn’t be worth it personally.

The second day morning would be my preference.

If fully rolled out I think it will be good that people get the choice whilst not impacting cruise fares as some had feared when myself and others suggested they offer an all inclusive package (when they limited the drinks you could bring onboard)

I don’t think it will affect bar prices, these will continue to slowly rise (20-30p a year)

I do however think that the ultimate package will creep up in price if it is fully rolled out, expect £45 in 3 years time.

For me it looks a reasonable offer. Can budget £40 a day for all drink and not have to worry about bringing aboard lots of soft drinks/water.Good that you can skip the first day and start on day 2.

If they do roll it out I guess they’ll only do it on cruises of 7 days or more.

Can only see a rise in the number of people choosing not to pay as a result of this increase. Which in turn will most likely lead to another £1 rise next year.

Its a never ending cycle until p&o overhaul the system

Happens every year (well at least since I started cruising in 2015)

For the staff it won’t be a 16% increase, that £7 has to be shared between 3, 4 or more people. Not forgetting that if somebody marks the cabin steward less than excellent he might not get his share.

System definitely needs addressing but sadly seems p&o aren’t listening.

It’s not punishing all passengers though, those that drink spirits are largely unaffected by the move. I don’t believe the hit bar profits idea, this is purely to bring extra profit to carnival. The mini bars in the room came first and now this.

I just find it really hard to understand why this change would make anyone think about changing cruise lines :confused:. If you enjoy or like the look of P&O, this is irrelevant really. I don't think I know of any other mainstream cruise line that allows pax to take on unlimited alcohol and many don't allow you to take any on board at all.

Other lines offer all inclusive drink packages p&o currently don’t. They’ve now taken away the perk of bringing your own unlimited on so that’s reason enough.

With all the cutbacks we experienced lately this is the final straw for us, just glad Sharon warned us previously so we haven’t booked anything.

Maybe the new ship will tempt us back but until then il look elsewhere

No service room in the suite on b deck.

There was some vibration but not as bad as you described Selbourne.

I do feel the vibration is getting worse on the ship though.was our third cruise and noticed it a lot more in the beach house this time and it was a fairly calm evening,

Would definitely advise against booking an aft balcony on britannia. We had b725 a few weeks ago. The well publishized issues are fully correct

No, despite the p&o site still saying it’s one of the benefits of having a suite!

Having also just returned from a Britannia cruise, I echo the cost cutting feel. We ate in the mdr 4 times, was happy with the food.however what I wasn't happy with was the menu on the black tie nights. We had 4 on a 12 night cruise and only 2 of them were worthy of being a formal night menu (the first and last) the other menus were just run of the mill normal menus with 1 formal (black and white) even having a special of chicken tikka curry! Chose to eat in the glass house that night!

The entertainment has been cut back, with only 2 guest acts performing in the live lounge over the whole cruise.the rest of the time it was pulse (gone downhill since last year) and music from "dj dom".

Yes there were other guest acts but only in the theatre on non theatre production nights.

The new biscuits in the cabin were ok but 90% of the time we had butter flavour only.

Didn't mind paying £7.50 for beach house but there's a lot more dishes with extra charges now than previously.

Il agree the wine prices are reasonable however the pint and can prices aren't. £4.10 a pint of fosters is at least 30% more expensive than my local. Many people also forget p&o do not have to pay duty on that pint price whereas your local boozer does.

P&o is a lot cheaper than other cruise lines bar prices but they are still making a massive profit even when the waiter takes his commission out of the payment.

I wouldn't mind if they offered an all inclusive drinks option like others do. If they don't offer that and restrict what you can bring on il look to other companies for future cruises.

Was that from your most recent cruise Selbourne?(are you allowed to say?)

P&o can't win, if they didn't have as many loungers people would moan they haven't enough. They have lots but they are too close - people still complain.

I will agree that on a couple of occasions in the past I've had poor service in the crows nest but that was in the day time when it was quiet ironically. Normally they're round like flies trying to make their commission.

Confused completely where did you get that P&O are valuing the meal at £120.

I may be wrong but I'm guessing the £12 per couple per day charge is based on this at a rate of 10% tip so in esssence a £120 meals worth per day.

However the cabin steward deserves a share in my eyes aswell, so maybe it's a £80 meal per day?

Sooner p&o do away with this and include it within their fares (even if it means slightly higher) the better

Why do they always choose Guernsey? Is jersey not suitable?

B726 is a pick of the week aswell but the price of that has gone up ever since they made it a pick of the week.most expensive I've seen it.

Less than 100 cabins for inside but over 100 for balcony cabins.

Maybe it's a new strategy by p&o to not sell the last cabins cheaply.

We are in Dai's cabin in September, fantastic pictures, looks even better than I previously thought.

Is the soot much of a problem?we plan on having a few meals on the balcony.

I book direct also but use a cashback site (e.g. Quidco) to purchase so get 3-4% back a few months later

We've only had 2 experiences but both have been terrible. Had 1430 first time so we got there about that time, kept waiting in the terminal for almost an hour waiting for our letter to be called.

Last time we had 1530, we arrived around 1540 and again we're waiting a good 45 minutes for our letter to be called.

Next time we are in a suite at least.

It's a poor system and we always score it badly on the questionnaire yet nothing changes

Great news they still do the gin flights, Thankyou. Very reasonable at £7 aswell

Do they still do flights of gin? I'm sure I read previously somebody had a flight in the crows nest.

We've got 4 on our upcoming 12 night cruise, 1 too many for my liking.

what frustrates me even more is when they have enough sea days available to do the formals but they still schedule one formal on a port day.

Thanks for posting, interesting they've changed from Lanson to taittinger champagne and fosters has replaced carling.prices risen slightly but like another poster said they're a lot cheaper than any cruise line whose prices are in $.

I take it suite passengers won't have to pay the charge given they didn't before?

I like the look of the new menu, far more choice.yes the charges seem to have gone up but so have some of the select dining restaurants in recent years. Plus you can have your own drinks in your cabin.