Which drinks to you bring onboard?

[Jo and Rob]

The ability of bringing drinks on board is highlighted as one of the advantages of P&O so what have you brought on in the past? Could we bring on board a box of wine? Cans of coke? We are trying to keep costs down so if we can bring some drinks on board that would be great!

[hammers]

I don't believe you are allowed to bring wine & sprits onboard. When we were in Barbados we stocked up with 500ml bottles of coke & 7up for use on our day trips. They were only US$1 each in the cruise port.

 

Terry

[SeaSickGill]

Hi

I tooks a box of wine and a bottle of whiskey last time in my suitcase and will take the same this time. In mummys case I shall put some small cans of mixers - oh and I take two of my best crystal glasses - for use in the cabin only of course:D

 

There also wasn't a problem buying alcohol in port and bringing it onboard.

 

Gillian x

[cruiseluvva]

We usually take two or three bottles of champagne and a bottle of cordial for drinking in the cabin - I don't drink fizzy (soft)drinks and the cordial is a god send when it's hot on the balcony.

[kevinyork]

I don't believe you are allowed to bring wine & sprits onboard. When we were in Barbados we stocked up with 500ml bottles of coke & 7up for use on our day trips. They were only US$1 each in the cruise port.

 

Terry

 

P&O do allow you to bring alcohol on board. They have a clause saying they reserve the right to restrict it but I have not known them do so or seen any reports of them taking it off people.

 

As drink prices are reasonable on board then I think people dont want to go to the effort of carrying alcohol onboard apart from a souvenier from the country they are in perhaps.

[u2cruiser]

We take a box of wine for the cabin. Spirits for your cabin are cheaper onboard than the supermakets. The cans of coke/tonic etc were on offer of buy 6 get 3 free, but they are small. You can easily take your own drinks for the children. Litre water bottles are cheaper if you buy a pack of them. You'll be surprised at the prices after sailing on American lines.

[Jo and Rob]

You'll be surprised at the prices after sailing on American lines.

 

Yes I think you are right! We are sailing with Celebrity in the Summer and the drinks packages (even the non-alcoholic ones) are extortionate.

We always find the cost of drinks really expensive and tend to drink water with our meal as a result. We might have the odd glass of wine if the bar prices are reasonable. We have an outside cabin so no balcony to enjoy a glass of wine but it will still be nice to have a drink while we are getting ready.

 

What are the minibar prices like?

Can we get the steward to empty the minibar so we can fill it with our own drinks?

[cruiseluvva]

P&O cabins don't have a mini bar. There is a fridge but the only things in it are a couple of small bottles of water, which are yours to use. So you can fill it with whatever you wish.

[u2cruiser]

Yes I think you are right! We are sailing with Celebrity in the Summer and the drinks packages (even the non-alcoholic ones) are extortionate.

We always find the cost of drinks really expensive and tend to drink water with our meal as a result. We might have the odd glass of wine if the bar prices are reasonable. We have an outside cabin so no balcony to enjoy a glass of wine but it will still be nice to have a drink while we are getting ready.

 

What are the minibar prices like?

Can we get the steward to empty the minibar so we can fill it with our own drinks?

 

I can't believe anyone buys those soda packages but they must do or they wouldn't bother selling them would they?

 

We had half a carafe (half litre) of house wine each evening with our meal, which was just over £7. It was fine, and the wine steward came to us each evening and asked if we would like the same tomorrow.

 

The fridges are empty apart from the ice bucket which your steward will fill each day, or on your request. There is a room service bar tariff in the cabin. The prices are excellent. Litre of Bombay Sapphire was £12.50. The room service wine also comes in small bottles and I think they were around £3.50. It's good to be able to check your onboard spend each day on the TV.

[Dorset Cruiser]

The prices sound excellent especially when compared to Princess. Also the carafe of house wine looks to be a bargain. We usually go for the cheapest bottle of red wine on the list and, if it is okay, we stick to it for the cruise.

[blitznbobs]

My husband is a wine buff so we usually take a mixed case of his choosing plus a bottle of champers and I take a load of diet coke as i'm addicted! Never been stopped or even questioned...

[silver service]

yes, agree with the above. on p&o, with in reason, carry on, or suitcase, your choice. as said, ordering in from your steward, spirits, litres, actually a bargain!! mike:)

[Brayman]

I see no point in taking any drink on board at all, any saving would be in pennies only and not worth the effort.

[southwinds]

You can bring drink on board.. Ive never found the prices so high that we feel the need to .. but have brought soft drinks to have in the fridge in the cabin more for convenience rather than cost saving. I bring some fruit juice ( the ones with straw) for hot days ..

 

The Virgin ( non alcoholic) cocktail of the day is often cheaper than a soft drink .... and again the cocktail of the day is good value.. ( if its one you like)

[cruiseluvva]

It isn't all about saving money. Sometimes it's about brands that aren't available and in our case with cordial, it's not full of sugar and acids as juices are and I don't drink fizzy drinks.

[SeaSickGill]

It isn't all about saving money. Sometimes it's about brands that aren't available and in our case with cordial, it's not full of sugar and acids as juices are and I don't drink fizzy drinks.

 

Yes I agree, it's no really about saving money, it's just prefence sometimes - I love certain wine, tins of ginger beer and extra low sugar vimto:D Classy!

[LibraLass41]

I agree its not just about saving money. Its convenience too . Wine is much more expensive - £5 a glass, a wine box is £16 for 16 glasses, so straight away a £1 a glass compared with £5 glass. But its the idea of having wine on tap in the cabin when we want it as well. Not waiting ages for room service to deliver it at x5 times the price. Its nice to sit out on the balcony and chill with a drink.

 

Spirits I agree aren't worth the effort unless ofcourse the ship doesn't sell your favourite tipple.

 

Alcohol can be taken on from Southampton in reasonable amounts, I have also seen families taking on a case of coke/lemonade for children or as mixers, not sure about fly cruise Caribbean ports though.

[Merlin7]

I see no point in taking any drink on board at all, any saving would be in pennies only and not worth the effort.

 

I agree.

 

Prices on board for spirits, drinks in the bars, and wine at dinner, are very reasonable on P&O when compared with Cunard, RCI etc.

 

We have enough essential hand luggage, in the form of medication, and really can't be bothered with saving a few pennies with the weight involved in carrying heavy botles/mixers on board.

 

We have sometimes bought a large bottle of mixer ashore as the cans are very small and, over a Christmas/New Year cruise, will buy champagne at a port of call rather than carrying on board. In some ports of call you will find excellent brands of champagne not easily available at home, well not where we live!!

 

Likewise wine, if you want that for the cabin, although we do enjoy our aperitif whilst we get ready for the evening and then adjourn to a bar for pre dinner drinks.

 

It really is not worth the effort of lugging around excessively heavy hand luggage, until your cabin is ready, unless, of course you have a comfortable place to sit, with drinks and food on hand.

[cclarke12]

Prices are pretty cheap so we don't bother either bringing alcohol, and I especially wouldn't bother unless I had a balcony. I can understand people not being able to get their usual tipple bringing some on board though. First thing I do when I get on board is order my in cabin bottle of Bombay Sapphire. I did bring some tonic water with me last time though and some squash for the kids. Wine is very reasonably priced and I was paying well under £3 a glass for a nice house wine in Ramblas on Ventura.

[Jo and Rob]

Thanks everyone for all your information. I think we will take on a couple of bottles of fizz for the cabin and perhaps a small bottle of ribena. I will pass the info about cheap spirits onboard to my parents as they love a glass of whiskey at the end of the day.

[Cruiseconvert55]

Just got back from 2 weeks on Ventura and took on bottles of spirit in a haversack which we bought in port, also six packs of coke which we kept in the fridge in the cabin and there were no problems, we were told as long as we did not appear drunk at the gangway and were bringing vast quantities there was no problem. All were scanned and no comment was made. Hope this helps. You can also have wine etc delivered to your cabin which costs a bit more but not excessive. Any spirits bought at the onboard shop are held until you leave.