P&O alcohol package trialled on Pacific Pearl this week

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

P&O Cruises Australia​ will introduce an alcohol drinks package across the fleet -- if this week's trial on Pacific Pearl is successful.

 

Check out the details on our News page today:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=6545

 

http://*******/1j920nt

 

Louise Goldsbury

Australia Editor

Cruise Critic

Edited September 23, 2015 by CruiseCriticAUeditor

[GUT2407]

Another post claims you don't need to buy for the whole cruise, that's not mentioned n the article, and I find it hard to believe. Any word on your end about that.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Another post claims you don't need to buy for the whole cruise, that's not mentioned n the article, and I find it hard to believe. Any word on your end about that.

 

That may just mean the same as it does on RCI - that you don't have to buy the package on day 1, you can buy it later for the remaining days of your cruise. however there is usually a cutoff time, like minimum four days remaining.

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

I'll see what I can find out, although they may be delaying that level of detail until it's 100% official.

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

The Premium Beverage Package is only available for purchase on the first two days of the cruise (embarkation day and the following day). It must be purchased for the full voyage – it cannot be purchased on a daily basis.

[GR82B@Cagain]

WOW!!! Great idea to come up to speed with the industry P&O.

I just wish it was available on all cruises - I'm going on "Pearly" for the 5 ships extravaganza in Sydney in November and would love to avail myself of the package instead of signing every time. It works so well on Royal Caribbean and Celebrity 👍🍻

[The_Big_M]

The Premium Beverage Package is only available for purchase on the first two days of the cruise (embarkation day and the following day). It must be purchased for the full voyage – it cannot be purchased on a daily basis.

 

Thanks for getting that detail!

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

At your service, Big M! :D

[By The Bay]

P&O Cruises Australia​ will introduce an alcohol drinks package across the fleet -- if this week's trial on Pacific Pearl is successful.

 

Check out the details on our News page today:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=6545

 

http://*******/1j920nt

 

Louise Goldsbury

Australia Editor

Cruise Critic

Hi Louise,

It would appear from the $12 ceiling per drink that some cocktails and martini's will be above the limit.:mad:

 

The second link does not work, even if cut and pasted.

[madfisher]

Hi all is there any word on drinks packs on Carnival Legend out of Sydney.

Now that Princess and P&O have it then it stands to reason that the parent company Carnival would have too. We are booked fro 26 Oct and would like to plan our expenses. 6 adults and 8 kids

thanks

 

 

P&O Cruises Australia​ will introduce an alcohol drinks package across the fleet -- if this week's trial on Pacific Pearl is successful.

 

Check out the details on our News page today:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=6545

 

http://*******/1j920nt

 

Louise Goldsbury

Australia Editor

Cruise Critic

[The_Big_M]

...

Edited September 24, 2015 by The_Big_M

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

The second link is to the same story.

 

I have asked Carnival if they're next... You'd think so!

 

PS. Carnival Cruise Line isn't the parent company, it's on the same 'sister brand' level as P&O - Carnival Australia is the parent.

[stingau]

The second link is to the same story.

 

I have asked Carnival if they're next... You'd think so!

 

PS. Carnival Cruise Line isn't the parent company, it's on the same 'sister brand' level as P&O - Carnival Australia is the parent.

 

Carnival Australia is in turn owned by carnival Corp the US based cruise line which also owns 70% of the cruise ships around the world.

It gets confusing when looking at cruises sometimes you see carnival listed once and spirit isn't in the list..us ships only, other times it is listed twice so you have to select both to find out which is which..... Why they didn't just give it a new name.....marketing and branding I suppose. Carnival Corp USA talk about having ships based down under

 

As for carnival being next to included the drinks package I have seem they have a short video on their Facebook page with the cheers drinks prominently displayed which is the USA based ships alcohol package name..... Maybe a teaser of things to come. ATM they are the only cruise line in the world just about that does have a drink package

[The_Big_M]

Carnival Australia is in turn owned by carnival Corp the US based cruise line which also owns 70% of the cruise ships around the world.

It gets confusing when looking at cruises sometimes you see carnival listed once and spirit isn't in the list..us ships only, other times it is listed twice so you have to select both to find out which is which..... Why they didn't just give it a new name.....marketing and branding I suppose. Carnival Corp USA talk about having ships based down under

The Carnival ships operating here are still part of the US Carnival brand. They just shifted the operations locally so e.g. currency is Australian instead of US, supplies and operations are local, and pricing/itineraries are managed locally while under local operations.

 

Still part of Carnival though.

 

As for carnival being next to included the drinks package I have seem they have a short video on their Facebook page with the cheers drinks prominently displayed which is the USA based ships alcohol package name..... Maybe a teaser of things to come. ATM they are the only cruise line in the world just about that does have a drink package

 

Guess you mean that "/doesn't/" have a drink package? Someone had to be the last though... They're only a fairly new innovation, being rolled out the past few years.

Edited September 25, 2015 by The_Big_M

[cruisin-m]

$69 a day is a bit steep I think personally!I drink pretty heavy on my holidays but couldn't maintain a $69+ a day spend for 7+ days straight.

 

I think you will find a few people that get this package worse for wear just trying to "break even", if they made it something more reasonable like $49-59 people wouldn't feel obliged to go Rambo on the drinks just to get their moneys worth, $70 is just a tad high for me.

 

It's a good step forward for them though to finally come in line with the rest of the cruising market. It's a shame it only came about as a reaction from them, because Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are eating up their market share.

 

I hope Carnival come in line as well and finally get the Cheers package that the US market already has, just not at $70 a day.

[OzKiwiJJ]

$69 a day is a bit steep I think personally!I drink pretty heavy on my holidays but couldn't maintain a $69+ a day spend for 7+ days straight.

 

 

We found the $59 Princess package achievable without drinking too much but it was borderline. On that cruise we only had 6 port stops in 17 days so, apart from our Lombok excursion day, we were always on board in time for an afternoon cocktail. ;)

 

But it very much depends on the drinks prices onboard. We paid around $85 for a package on Royal Caribbean and, again, just broke even not because we drank more but because the wines we liked to drink were US $11 to $14 a glass. Cocktails were US $14.

[The_Big_M]

I think you will find a few people that get this package worse for wear just trying to "break even", if they made it something more reasonable like $49-59 people wouldn't feel obliged to go Rambo on the drinks just to get their moneys worth, $70 is just a tad high for me.

 

That'd be true for some. However, there's the counterpoint which is when something is 'free' (it's already paid for, so what you take at the time is without cost), another group just take it more. Which means bars are busier - everyone waits more (since they can't get more staff) - and others will enjoy another drink, and another, and so on as they're not constrained.

 

The packages are not there to encourage an increase in consumption over current levels, so I don't see them bringing the price down to increase take-up.

[HCI]

I agree with Cruisn-m

[Royalty X]

Does anyone else think they've priced it that high so people who don't necessarily need it (ie. drunken bogans who don't know when to stop) can't afford it?