Taking alcohol on board

[dgs1956]

Yeah,its common knowledge all expats in Spain are alcoholics,talk about steriotyping,lol.

 

Not stereotyping, just stating fact. LOL

[tartanexile81]

Well I've just read on a Princess thread that their all inclusive package has just gone up and would now cost a couple £1450 for a 2 week cruise. Makes you realise what a good deal we get with P&O and their policy .......

 

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We once did the inclusive package on Princess and on a positive note, it included good quality wines, spirits and cocktails. On a negative note, we drank FAR too much and still then only came out about even, so we'd never do a package like that again.

[brian1]

Not stereotyping, just stating fact. LOL

Not fact though.UK shagalluf crowd and UK cruisers are different animals.

[grapau27]

Not fact though.UK shagalluf crowd and UK cruisers are different animals.

For now.

 

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[Prefdavid]

http://www.pocruises.com/code-of-conduct/

 

:mad::mad:

[Host Sharon]

Well - it's happened.

 

As of Jan 1st.

Each guest aged 18 years and older may bring one bottle of the following; wine, Champagne, beer, spirit or liqueur (up to 1 litre in size) on board as they embark the ship for the first time only. Alcohol over this limit will be stored and returned to the guest on the last evening of the cruise, at no charge. There is no corkage charge for this bottle.

You’re welcome to buy bottles of alcohol at ports along the way, but you won’t be able to drink it while on... board. We’ll look after it until your cruise comes to an end and return it to you.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/po/before-you-sail/alcohol

[Eglesbrech]

So one bottle each pax over 18 at embarkation and anything else confiscated and stored. So even longer queues getting back onboard then.

 

Not well written as a policy, why would someone bring 1 bottle of beer when they could bring 1 litre of spirits? It certainly limits what you can take on and I suspect will lose them business as they have just lost one of their USPs.

 

We never took on much but it is annoying that they change the goalpost, yet again, after people have booked. That said I don't see a start date for this and it was not part of the code when many of us booked our cruises months / years ago.

 

Also not clear if the room service bottles are still available for purchase as anything bought at the duty free shop is being kept to the last day.

[Britboys]

They are just bringing their policy in line with most other cruise lines that allow you to take alcohol on board. There are quite a few (possibly the majority) that do not allow any alcohol at all to be brought on board.

[P&O SUE]

I suspect the few have spoiled it for the many as usual. Seen many posts on Facebook boasting how much they take on. You see a post asking if they can take alcohol on and people answer "as much as you can carry"! We normally have an inside cabin so don't want to sit in there drinking but I do take soft drinks as I can only take so much coffee that you get in your cabin!

We had a balcony this year and it was lovely to sit there with a drink (we took one bottle of wine).

Yes, it's falling in line with other cruise lines, but it was nice that P&O were different!

[P&O SUE]

We bought some cider and liqueurs on a P&O excursion to the cider distillery! We didn't consume it on board but kept it in our cabin - I hope they returned everyone's bottles safely! What if you get to the end of the cruise and they don't return it? I hope they've got this organised as i don't know how you'd follow it up if they "lost" it.

[Josy1953]

It looks like a general tightening up. I just took a look at the code of conduct and they look to be tightening up on clothing too :

Fancy dress: We don’t want to dampen anyone's fun but coming into effect on 1 January 2018, fancy dress and/or novelty clothing will not be permitted on board. We reserve the right to deny embarkation to guests who are inappropriately dressed. This is a change from the policy wording printed in the back of our January 2018 – October 2019 brochure and pre-cruise brochures. The only exception to this is on official theme nights, when guests are invited to dress to reflect the theme. This policy, however, does not apply to children 16 and under.

 

 

Personalised and slogan clothing: In addition to the fancy dress policy, clothing personalised with images/slogans, and/or clothing that features offensive language, images or slogans, will not be allowed on board at any time.

 

 

 

This will not affect most of us but the "party" cruisers will be hit. We have been on 2 short cruises and noticed that there were a number of rowdy hen and stag party ladies and gents adressed in novelty costumes and personalised tops.

 

As has already been posted these changes regarding drinking and dress codes have probably been brought about by the over top behaviour of some passengers.

[P&O SUE]

Yes I did notice the bit about the outfits Josy! Haven't seen it myself because I've only been on 4 or 5 nights not the 2! I expect a lot of people will be pleased about this :)

[mandylennon]

Well they might as well ban the stag and hen do's then as I think this is directed at them with regards to outfits and improper clothing.

Good luck with implementing it P&O.

[smj777]

Guerrilla action is needed. Everyone buys alcohol at every port. See how long it takes to collect it and then later to distribute it.

 

Also, is a refusing to remove a T shirt with the slogan 'P O, P&O' sufficient to have embarkation refused?

[pete14]

I agree that it is reasonable to allow just one bottle when first boarding but to allow nothing bought in ports of call may cause problems. Some P&O excursions take in vineyards etc and some people choose to buy some of the ‘produce’ to take home with them. It will also remove one of the attractions of the likes of Gibraltar as a port of call and hit their local economy.

The new system will only work if they have an area set aside for booking in alcohol bought in ports and make it easy to get it back on the last day of the cruise. As they already scan bags brought back on board there will be no way of passengers getting around this, unless the crew overlook the new guidance.

[mandylennon]

Well - it's happened.

 

As of Jan 1st.

Each guest aged 18 years and older may bring one bottle of the following; wine, Champagne, beer, spirit or liqueur (up to 1 litre in size) on board as they embark the ship for the first time only. Alcohol over this limit will be stored and returned to the guest on the last evening of the cruise, at no charge. There is no corkage charge for this bottle.

You’re welcome to buy bottles of alcohol at ports along the way, but you won’t be able to drink it while on... board. We’ll look after it until your cruise comes to an end and return it to you.

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/po/before-you-sail/alcohol

 

Yes Sharon, it has happened.

There seems to have been quite a lot of changes with P&O this year, alcohol allowance, mini-bar and room service charges.

What's next I think will be a drinks package and tips included in cost of cruise.

We will see. Do you have any inside information?

Mandy

[eddie11]

I too think this might be the precursor to a(n optional) drinks package.

 

Tips included? Well, that’s another topic but I, for one, would welcome it.

[Josy1953]

Yes I did notice the bit about the outfits Josy! Haven't seen it myself because I've only been on 4 or 5 nights not the 2! I expect a lot of people will be pleased about this :)

We actually did 2 3 nights because our niece's children wanted to go on big ship. We were not brave enough to take both at the same time. On the second cruise the little girl who was 4 at the time asked me in a very loud voice "Why has that lady got no knickers on ?". When I looked round there was a hen party and one of the young ladies was wearing a very short skirt and was bending over to help her friend who was drunk on the floor and sure enough she had no underwear. We still laugh about it 4 years later. :'):')

[CCFC]

The new system will only work if they have an area set aside for booking in alcohol bought in ports and make it easy to get it back on the last day of the cruise. As they already scan bags brought back on board there will be no way of passengers getting around this, unless the crew overlook the new guidance.

 

Princess have a table at the gangway to take your bottles off you. This works fine if security is on the ship where they scan your bags but if security is shoreside its more of an honesty thing as its not the ships crew scanning and looking for bottles.

 

Rumrunners it is!

[Selbourne]

Personally, I'm pleased to see the comments about large groups as well but, as others have said, codes of conduct are only of use if they are enforced and P&O does not have a good track record on this. I'm sure that many of us have seen people in casual attire (after the cut-off time on formal nights) in the bars that are designated as 'formal only' and they are unchallenged.

 

We did a 2 day back to back with a 7 day on Aurora recently. Yes, there were a lot of hen parties (didn't notice a single stag party) but none was troublesome. Conversely, our sail down the Solent at the start of the 7 day 'proper' cruise was completely ruined by a very large group of around 30 friends and family who had all decided to meet in the Crows Nest. They got progressively louder and louder, completely dominating the place and spoiling it for everyone else. In fact we avoided the Crows Nest (usually one of our favourite places) for the rest of the cruise after that for fear that it was their preferred meeting place.

 

The alcohol policy won't affect us and although it will irritate some I can't believe that anyone would seriously stop cruising with P&O for that reason alone.

 

As a general point though, I am a little surprised at some of this. Whether we like it or not, P&O is fast becoming a mass market product. The 'exclusivity' that many of us remember from years ago is a thing of the past as they strive to fill more and more capacity. Hand in hand with this is the fact that cruising with P&O is now far cheaper than it used to be. The sort of things that they are clamping down on may meet with approval from those of us who would rather have a more upmarket product (and would be prepared to pay more for it), but may deter the sort of passengers that they seem hell bent on attracting.

[dgs1956]

I suspect the few have spoiled it for the many as usual. Seen many posts on Facebook boasting how much they take on. You see a post asking if they can take alcohol on and people answer "as much as you can carry"! We normally have an inside cabin so don't want to sit in there drinking but I do take soft drinks as I can only take so much coffee that you get in your cabin!

We had a balcony this year and it was lovely to sit there with a drink (we took one bottle of wine).

Yes, it's falling in line with other cruise lines, but it was nice that P&O were different!

 

Exactly and the other problem is sneaking alcohol into bars.

[daiB]

Personally, I'm pleased to see the comments about large groups as well but, as others have said, codes of conduct are only of use if they are enforced and P&O does not have a good track record on this. I'm sure that many of us have seen people in casual attire (after the cut-off time on formal nights) in the bars that are designated as 'formal only' and they are unchallenged.

 

We did a 2 day back to back with a 7 day on Aurora recently. Yes, there were a lot of hen parties (didn't notice a single stag party) but none was troublesome. Conversely, our sail down the Solent at the start of the 7 day 'proper' cruise was completely ruined by a very large group of around 30 friends and family who had all decided to meet in the Crows Nest. They got progressively louder and louder, completely dominating the place and spoiling it for everyone else. In fact we avoided the Crows Nest (usually one of our favourite places) for the rest of the cruise after that for fear that it was their preferred meeting place.

 

The alcohol policy won't affect us and although it will irritate some I can't believe that anyone would seriously stop cruising with P&O for that reason alone.

 

As a general point though, I am a little surprised at some of this. Whether we like it or not, P&O is fast becoming a mass market product. The 'exclusivity' that many of us remember from years ago is a thing of the past as they strive to fill more and more capacity. Hand in hand with this is the fact that cruising with P&O is now far cheaper than it used to be. The sort of things that they are clamping down on may meet with approval from those of us who would rather have a more upmarket product (and would be prepared to pay more for it), but may deter the sort of passengers that they seem hell bent on attracting.

 

 

 

Well this new policy is irritating me. I will now have to carry two ltrs on board with me. Usually we don’t bother at all.

 

Being forced to carry two is a bit much.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Eglesbrech]

We bought some cider and liqueurs on a P&O excursion to the cider distillery! We didn't consume it on board but kept it in our cabin - I hope they returned everyone's bottles safely! What if you get to the end of the cruise and they don't return it? I hope they've got this organised as i don't know how you'd follow it up if they "lost" it.

 

On other lines you get a receipt for what you have handed in. If I have bought something special, eg an expensive malt I make sure that the receipt reflects that and the cost of the item in case it gets lost or broken in their care.

 

To date that has never happened, the ships that do it are pretty efficient at it.

[dgs1956]

Personally, I'm pleased to see the comments about large groups as well but, as others have said, codes of conduct are only of use if they are enforced and P&O does not have a good track record on this. I'm sure that many of us have seen people in casual attire (after the cut-off time on formal nights) in the bars that are designated as 'formal only' and they are unchallenged.

 

We did a 2 day back to back with a 7 day on Aurora recently. Yes, there were a lot of hen parties (didn't notice a single stag party) but none was troublesome. Conversely, our sail down the Solent at the start of the 7 day 'proper' cruise was completely ruined by a very large group of around 30 friends and family who had all decided to meet in the Crows Nest. They got progressively louder and louder, completely dominating the place and spoiling it for everyone else. In fact we avoided the Crows Nest (usually one of our favourite places) for the rest of the cruise after that for fear that it was their preferred meeting place.

 

The alcohol policy won't affect us and although it will irritate some I can't believe that anyone would seriously stop cruising with P&O for that reason alone.

 

As a general point though, I am a little surprised at some of this. Whether we like it or not, P&O is fast becoming a mass market product. The 'exclusivity' that many of us remember from years ago is a thing of the past as they strive to fill more and more capacity. Hand in hand with this is the fact that cruising with P&O is now far cheaper than it used to be. The sort of things that they are clamping down on may meet with approval from those of us who would rather have a more upmarket product (and would be prepared to pay more for it), but may deter the sort of passengers that they seem hell bent on attracting.

 

We have also done cruises where there have been a number of hen parties and again there was no problem with them at all although they did drink too much. Again, we also had a large group of "friends" that was made up of 12 families. The men drank and gambled most of the day and shouted abuse at waiters and were generally a disgrace meanwhile the women looked after the umpteen children and were well behaved.

[bee-ess]

I guess the mini-bar sales were not very good, this new policy of 1 bottle will boost that I think.