P&O drink package poor for wine drinkers

[mrbluesea]

1 hour ago, SarahHben said:

Does anyone know if P&O have Sancerre (white) on the restaurant wine lists? 

It is stated as being available as part of the wine package (The Commodore’s Collection).  https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/drinks_package

 

 

[mrbluesea]

8 hours ago, daiB said:

 

Can’t see anyone on our next cruise taking the package, it’s 35 nights. That would be £2800

Agreed, we are on the same cruise and I do not think I could (or would want to ) to drink that much for 35 nights. We have gone for the wine package to see if that works for us.

[daiB]

Just now, mrbluesea said:

Agreed, we are on the same cruise and I do not think I could (or would want to ) to drink that much for 35 nights. We have gone for the wine package to see if that works for us.

I find pay as you go works perfectly well for us. And no restrictions.

[jeanlyon]

Regarding water.  We use the first 2 bottles given in the cabin and each day we boil the kettle, let it cool and refill our water bottles.  Simples!

[niddwalker2]

We used to be regulars on P O but changed to Celebrity as PO were beginning to cut so many corners. We have just done our 7thcruise on Celebrity  and I can't believe how you say PO are offering there drinks packages.Our drinks package was with Celebrity and was booked when they were including it as a offer when you booked a outside cabin or higher.  We had some exceptional wines all included in the package and we were served very well at all times,in fact the sommelier seemed pleased to be serving us very often and got round to leaving his recommended wine bottle on the table. Celebrity do not seem to have a limit on drinks packages which also include luxury coffees and unlimited water.It is well worth anyone who likes wine tocarefuuly check the offers as I can make a big difference to people holiday spend.

[SarahHben]

2 hours ago, mrbluesea said:

It is stated as being available as part of the wine package (The Commodore’s Collection).  https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/life-on-board/drinks_package

 

 

Thank you for that. I notice that it's on the most expensive choice out of the wine packages.  It's my husband's favourite but too dry for me. Hopefully they'll sell it by the single bottle or glass in the restaurant.

[tartanexile81]

2 hours ago, mrbluesea said:

Agreed, we are on the same cruise and I do not think I could (or would want to ) to drink that much for 35 nights. We have gone for the wine package to see if that works for us.

 

2 hours ago, daiB said:

I find pay as you go works perfectly well for us. And no restrictions.

We're the same Dai. We've done these 35 day cruises for a few years now and drink as much or as little as we want (and we enjoy a few drinks) but our bar bill has never been even half of the £2800 it would cost to buy a package. And sorry but we don't like the wine package either mrbluesea. We'd rather choose from the wine list as and when we want instead of being limited to the ones we've "bought into". Even then it costs us less than the package would have done. However we were on Celebrity in August and their package, which we got for free,  is great and the bar staff and sommeliers are very laissez-faire about the whole thing. Our glass was never empty in the dining room and measures were delivered free-hand in the bars with no always large measures.

 

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Regarding water.  We use the first 2 bottles given in the cabin and each day we boil the kettle, let it cool and refill our water bottles.  Simples!

 

We live in Scotland and irrespective of what we've tried with the water on the ship, it tastes terrible and not clean, pure and tasteless like the lovely water at home, so that is definitely something we buy and always will. Maybe it depends where you live in the UK. However, we'd rather it could be provided in a more environmentally friendly way.  

[davemorton]

1 hour ago, niddwalker2 said:

 Celebrity do not seem to have a limit on drinks packages which also include luxury coffees and unlimited water.

Both available on the PO package.  Also, when talking to a waiter, it seemed as if there was no way of enforcing the 15 drinks limit if anyone did get to that amount. 

People asking about wine, I cant answer about the rest of the ship, but there was certainly a good choice of wines available in the Glasshouse. 

[hansol1966]

Sorry this is not on topic but about water etc, we always take an old ladies wheeled trolley filled with sparkling water..assorted mineral waters and squash...10 bottles in total..always handy. Loaded with our luggage.

Edited November 14, 2019 by hansol1966

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, niddwalker2 said:

We used to be regulars on P O but changed to Celebrity as PO were beginning to cut so many corners. We have just done our 7thcruise on Celebrity  and I can't believe how you say PO are offering there drinks packages.Our drinks package was with Celebrity and was booked when they were including it as a offer when you booked a outside cabin or higher.  We had some exceptional wines all included in the package and we were served very well at all times,in fact the sommelier seemed pleased to be serving us very often and got round to leaving his recommended wine bottle on the table. Celebrity do not seem to have a limit on drinks packages which also include luxury coffees and unlimited water.It is well worth anyone who likes wine tocarefuuly check the offers as I can make a big difference to people holiday spend.

Whilst I appreciate and agree with all you say, the fact is that prices on Celebrity are a step change up from P&O.  If I paid Celebrity prices,  I would expect to receive the service that you experience.

Unfortunately I am "time rich, cash poor", so I cruise with P&O and  manage my expectations in line with my expenditure.  

[waughy]

8 hours ago, mickrory said:

We perused the wine list on board. My wife wanted  NZ Sauvignon Blanc, my sister in law Pinot Noir, my brother Chenin Blanc and me a Washington Merlot.

Couldn't get any of these in a 250 glass on the package.

is the chenin blanc nice? my favourite wine :) 

 

[terrierjohn]

26 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Whilst I appreciate and agree with all you say, the fact is that prices on Celebrity are a step change up from P&O.  If I paid Celebrity prices,  I would expect to receive the service that you experience.

Unfortunately I am "time rich, cash poor", so I cruise with P&O and  manage my expectations in line with my expenditure.  

Sad to say we agree with you.  We sailed Celebrity regularly from 2011 to 2016 and my spread sheet shows their prices were very much in line with our P&O prices during the same period.  Even the drinks prices once you factored in the exchange rate, which was about $1.60 at that time, and the fact that with their generous measures you bought less drinks, and during that period their launch prices had some very generous offers.

But fast forward to today, gone are the launch discounts and since the introduction of drinks packages and the drop in Sterling's value drink prices have nearly doubled and the price pppn is now well above P&O prices.  Their standard was, and probably still is, a cut above P&O but as we only sail from Southampton we have now done most Med, Canary, Baltic and Fjord ports, and with P&O's entertainment being a cut above Celebrity's, we prefer to do 2 or 3 cruises on P&O rather than 1 or 2 on Celebrity. 

[wowzz]

33 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Sad to say we agree with you.  We sailed Celebrity regularly from 2011 to 2016 and my spread sheet shows their prices were very much in line with our P&O prices during the same period.  Even the drinks prices once you factored in the exchange rate, which was about $1.60 at that time, and the fact that with their generous measures you bought less drinks, and during that period their launch prices had some very generous offers.

But fast forward to today, gone are the launch discounts and since the introduction of drinks packages and the drop in Sterling's value drink prices have nearly doubled and the price pppn is now well above P&O prices.  Their standard was, and probably still is, a cut above P&O but as we only sail from Southampton we have now done most Med, Canary, Baltic and Fjord ports, and with P&O's entertainment being a cut above Celebrity's, we prefer to do 2 or 3 cruises on P&O rather than 1 or 2 on Celebrity. 

Thank you for reinforcing my opinion. 

Our very first cruise was on Celebrity around 1995 !

[jeanlyon]

21 hours ago, tartanexile81 said:

 

We're the same Dai. We've done these 35 day cruises for a few years now and drink as much or as little as we want (and we enjoy a few drinks) but our bar bill has never been even half of the £2800 it would cost to buy a package. And sorry but we don't like the wine package either mrbluesea. We'd rather choose from the wine list as and when we want instead of being limited to the ones we've "bought into". Even then it costs us less than the package would have done. However we were on Celebrity in August and their package, which we got for free,  is great and the bar staff and sommeliers are very laissez-faire about the whole thing. Our glass was never empty in the dining room and measures were delivered free-hand in the bars with no always large measures.

 

 

We live in Scotland and irrespective of what we've tried with the water on the ship, it tastes terrible and not clean, pure and tasteless like the lovely water at home, so that is definitely something we buy and always will. Maybe it depends where you live in the UK. However, we'd rather it could be provided in a more environmentally friendly way.  

We live in Devon and our water is soft and very nice.  However, after boiling and cooling, I have no problem with the water on the ship at all.

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

We live in Devon and our water is soft and very nice.  However, after boiling and cooling, I have no problem with the water on the ship at all.

Totally agree. Plus, you are helping the environment.

[terrierjohn]

14 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

We live in Devon and our water is soft and very nice.  However, after boiling and cooling, I have no problem with the water on the ship at all.

 

10 hours ago, wowzz said:

Totally agree. Plus, you are helping the environment.

We live in Yorkshire which also enjoys soft water and have never found that cruise ship water has any unpleasant taste, and we don't boil it, we fill our bottles straight from the tap, and then put in the fridge overnight.

I sometimes wonder if its the people who live in hard water areas, or like Londoners are drinking second, third and 4th hand water that's been in and out of several rivers before it reaches them.  Then to make it drinkable the water companies have to clobber it with so many chemicals to make it safe, so the poor souls don't appreciate pure water when they taste it.

[brian1]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

 

We live in Yorkshire which also enjoys soft water and have never found that cruise ship water has any unpleasant taste, and we don't boil it, we fill our bottles straight from the tap, and then put in the fridge overnight.

I sometimes wonder if its the people who live in hard water areas, or like Londoners are drinking second, third and 4th hand water that's been in and out of several rivers before it reaches them.  Then to make it drinkable the water companies have to clobber it with so many chemicals to make it safe, so the poor souls don't appreciate pure water when they taste it.

Yeah,it's so bad ,us Londoners glow green in the dark,lol.

[Tablelamp]

On 11/14/2019 at 9:54 AM, mickrory said:

When we embarked on 25th October we were inundated with requests to buy the drink package so we buttonholed a waiter to establish what we could drink if we bought it.

The 4 of us all enjoy copious amounts of wine but the £6.95 price excludes all 250cl glasses except house wine and Vinho Verde although you can purchase bottles of wine at a 40% discount.

Question is after shelling out £40 a day why would you want to start buying bottles? 

Wine by the glass in the package was limited so unless you buy the bottle no Chenin Blanc, no Fleurie, no Pinot Noir. Even standard cocktails like Aperol Spritz are not included in the package as over £7 and unlike Celebrity if it's over you pay the full whack not the difference.

After a few minutes discussion we agreed it wasn't for us. 

I was talking to a guy during week 2 who bought the package and he said although it worked for him during the day he had difficulty getting a second glass of wine in the MDR at dinner because his Sommelier had too many tables to service so this reinforced our view that the package would have been pretty useless for us.

 P and O do not now have any Sommeliers.  A Somalia is somebody who has studied wine and has been awarded the Somalia chain, a very prestigious thing to have.

[Tablelamp]

1 hour ago, brian1 said:

Yeah,it's so bad ,us Londoners glow green in the dark,lol.

2’nd and 3’d hand water makes me think of Hyacinth Bucket who once complained to the water company that she thought her water had been ‘used’

[brian1]

2 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

2’nd and 3’d hand water makes me think of Hyacinth Bucket who once complained to the water company that she thought her water had been ‘used’

Funny enough,the water we drink has already been thru peoples bodies.The processed outfall from sewage works goes straight into the rivers.

[brian1]

21 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

 P and O do not now have any Sommeliers.  A Somalia is somebody who has studied wine and has been awarded the Somalia chain, a very prestigious thing to have.

Are you an optician by any chance,lol.

[terrierjohn]

42 minutes ago, Tablelamp said:

 P and O do not now have any Sommeliers.  A Somalia is somebody who has studied wine and has been awarded the Somalia chain, a very prestigious thing to have.

I doubt they ever had Sommeliers, well not since the thirties peak of luxury trans Atlantic cruising, but they did still have wine waiters on our Aurora cruise in May.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Tablelamp said:

 P and O do not now have any Sommeliers.  A Somalia is somebody who has studied wine and has been awarded the Somalia chain, a very prestigious thing to have.

Didn't realise that Somalia grew grapes! 

[tartanexile81]

21 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

We live in Devon and our water is soft and very nice.  However, after boiling and cooling, I have no problem with the water on the ship at all.

 

Each to their own then. Yes I worry about the plastic usage but having done a behind the scenes tour last year I feel confident the water bottles are dealt with effectively in the recycling plant. 

 

 I drink A LOT of water and I've tried everything but I'm afraid whatever I do, it still has an unpleasant taste compared to what I drink at home. We've lived all over the UK and in Germany and our water here is the only tap water I've been able to drink. 

[jeanlyon]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

Didn't realise that Somalia grew grapes! 

Neither did I 😂