New Drinks Menus and Prices

[Windsurfboy]

23 hours ago, Angel57 said:

I only live a few miles away from Nyetimber winery but have never tried it. Can feel a visit for some wine tasting beckoning!

 

 

We'll worth the visit , much better than similiary priced big name French .

 

3 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

I would assume that VAT will be charged on drinks on staycation cruises as they don’t leave the U.K. 

 

They leave UK territorial waters, so once they do that ,  no tax.  Unless they stay overnight in port which would be expensive both with tax and port charges.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Windsurfboy

[davecttr]

Iona's scenic cruise to the Scottish islands will attract VAT for all the time it is in the islands area as they are all within the 12 mile limit, only by being west of the outer Hebrides can you avoid that and a scenic cruise is not much use if the land is a smudge on the horizon.

 

similar rules apply to the onboard shops and casino.

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

16 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

 

We'll worth the visit , much better than similiary priced big name French .

 

 

They leave UK territorial waters, so once they do that ,  no tax.  Unless they stay overnight in port which would be expensive both with tax and port charges.

I thought that you had to call at another Port outside the U.K. to get exemption from VAT. Previously when in EU the cruises would dock at place like Gibraltar etc to get VAT exemption. 

[trollydolly]

U.K. Vat was charged on the first Britannia sea cation on purchases in shops, no duty free booze or cigarettes, reason it said was as you do not call at a non U.K. port. 

[Windsurfboy]

23 minutes ago, trollydolly said:

U.K. Vat was charged on the first Britannia sea cation on purchases in shops, no duty free booze or cigarettes, reason it said was as you do not call at a non U.K. port. 

 

1 hour ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

I thought that you had to call at another Port outside the U.K. to get exemption from VAT. Previously when in EU the cruises would dock at place like Gibraltar etc to get VAT exemption. 

 

As it looks like I was wrong about VAT on drinks, will prices be 20% cheaper 

when proper cruising starts.

 

My bet NO. 

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

 

As it looks like I was wrong about VAT on drinks, will prices be 20% cheaper 

when proper cruising starts.

 

My bet NO. 

Rather like when VAT was temporarily reduced to 5% in restaurants and hotels  in the U.K. - did anyone see prices go down ? 

[wowzz]

16 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Rather like when VAT was temporarily reduced to 5% in restaurants and hotels  in the U.K. - did anyone see prices go down ? 

To be fair, the reduction was designed to help the restaurants, hotels etc, as they were having to operate at reduced capacity, rather than to lead to cheaper prices. I have no problem with my local pub keeping the prices the same as before, but having to pay less VAT.  

[majortom10]

53 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Rather like when VAT was temporarily reduced to 5% in restaurants and hotels  in the U.K. - did anyone see prices go down ? 

Did many restaurants/hotels reduce prices when VAT was reduced to 5% in my experience they didnt they just stayed at the same price and the VAT saved they kept to help the business so if that is the case why should P&O or any other cruise line do the same.

[smollett]

Just finished my first cruise on Britannia and TBH I was very pleasantly surprised by the drinks prices. Around the £6-8 mark for 250ml glasses of wine in the restaurants, less than £5 for a pint of beer. That's less than what I usually pay in pubs in London - so no complaints from me. 

 

I took a pack of 4 beers on with me, in case on-ship booze turned out to be shockingly dear, but I ended up bringing them home un-drunk.

Edited July 4, 2021 by smollett

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

I have just booked 4 nights on Britannia starting next Sunday. I had intended to get the drinks package but now that I have looked at the web site I see that packages are only available for cruises of over 5 days.

Not only that but the ultimate package is... ready for this if you don't already know... £39 per person, per day!!! That is £78 per couple, per day. We had planned on booking a Caribbean cruise for next year but with the drinks package coming in at over £1000 I think I will be looking at Marella and other all-inclusive cruises. I realise that P&O are not in the same league as Marella but at those prices it makes P&O look very expensive if you like to have a few drinks.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

LOL!

I have to be honest... yes, if I set out to get my £39 worth of value every day I am sure I could quite easily do it with cocktails at £6.95 but it would require me to drink way more than I would normally just because I could - and I like a few beers on a cruise! In fact, in my case it is worse than that as my wife does not drink alcohol so for her to get her £39 worth every day it would likely be impossible.

 

I can see why people go for these packages but I do wonder just how many people would be better off going PAYG. Whenever I have gone all-inclusive I have always felt I got value for money but the reality is that I drank that much because it was included... not necessarily because I would have drunk it anyway even if I had to pay 🙂 

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Couple-Somerset said:

 

We think the £39/day drinks package is excellent value

Well, Princess have the same package for £30 per day, but that also includes free wifi and gratuities.  Makes P&O look very expensive,

[davecttr]

My current drinking consumption is no longer sufficient to justify nearly £40 per day. £280 for a week, I expect to spend about 2 thirds of that. I now avoid caffeine so Costa is out cos their decaf offerings are poor, don't taste of coffee. For soft drinks Squash'ed flavours will do the job nicely.

[zap99]

13 hours ago, smollett said:

Just finished my first cruise on Britannia and TBH I was very pleasantly surprised by the drinks prices. Around the £6-8 mark for 250ml glasses of wine in the restaurants, less than £5 for a pint of beer. That's less than what I usually pay in pubs in London - so no complaints from me. 

 

I took a pack of 4 beers on with me, in case on-ship booze turned out to be shockingly dear, but I ended up bringing them home un-drunk.

I was speaking to the very nice young Lady at P&O Southampton who kindly reminded me that we are allowed to take 2 litres of spirits to drink in the cabin. That should last us for 3 days🤣🍾.

[Elaine0138]

On 7/4/2021 at 8:36 PM, Couple-Somerset said:

100% agree that being forced to buy 2 drink packages when 1 person in the cabin doesnt drink is unfair. 

 

Far too open for abuse to allow only 1 person to buy it though. 

 

 Celebrity allow you to buy one 1 package or 2 different  ones per cabin

[sammyh25]

Wonder if it's worth risking trying to get this thread back on topic, as I'd still love to know the answer to the original question.

 

"Can someone who was on the shakedown cruise yesterday post the drinks prices and menus please? I have seen them on social media and the prices have gone up, many cocktails now £7.95 and so not included in the drinks package."

 

I loved reading about everyone's thoughts on paper vs virtual menus and the merits of the various covid protocols, but I really only want to know if there is any point in us buying the Ultimate Drinks Package, well on this thread anyway. 😉

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

I am not sure that anyone can answer whether it is worth you getting the drinks package as that is a very personal decision and based on how much and what you drink!

 

I went through the same process as most people do I am sure... firstly, the package only covers you for drinks up to £6.95 in price... if a drink costs more then you pay for it in the normal way. That means that to get value for money out of a £39pppd package I would need to drink at least 5 cocktails at £6.95 every day of the cruise... or, if I drank beer (as I often do), 8 pints at £4.95. I could easily do that on a few days but not every day and so if, like me, you are not a heavy drinker then it is quite likely you won't get value from it. Of course there are non-alcoholic drinks included... coffees, juices, mixers etc so perhaps this assessment is a little too simplistic to accurately assess the value and that is why I say it is very much a personal choice. It isn't cut and dried one way or the other as it depends on how much and what you drink.

 

Sorry I can't be more help 🙂

 

For me I will not be buying a drinks package at £39pppd 🙂 

Also, drinks packages are only available on cruises of 5 days or more so they aren't available on the short 3N/4N staycation cruises anyway.

[thornegirl]

1 hour ago, sammyh25 said:

Wonder if it's worth risking trying to get this thread back on topic, as I'd still love to know the answer to the original question.

 

"Can someone who was on the shakedown cruise yesterday post the drinks prices and menus please? I have seen them on social media and the prices have gone up, many cocktails now £7.95 and so not included in the drinks package."

 

I loved reading about everyone's thoughts on paper vs virtual menus and the merits of the various covid protocols, but I really only want to know if there is any point in us buying the Ultimate Drinks Package, well on this thread anyway. 😉

If this works this was the drinks menu from the Crows Next last weekend

 

 

137D28DE-FE12-4A5E-ACE6-D20B913948ED.heic BC7426CE-F4C4-43D7-9CDB-BDBE6FFB7843.heic

[Manx buoy]

1 hour ago, sammyh25 said:

Wonder if it's worth risking trying to get this thread back on topic, as I'd still love to know the answer to the original question.

 

"Can someone who was on the shakedown cruise yesterday post the drinks prices and menus please? I have seen them on social media and the prices have gone up, many cocktails now £7.95 and so not included in the drinks package."

 

I loved reading about everyone's thoughts on paper vs virtual menus and the merits of the various covid protocols, but I really only want to know if there is any point in us buying the Ultimate Drinks Package, well on this thread anyway. 😉

Try looking back at earlier posts it’s all there for you

[jaydee6969]

1 hour ago, sammyh25 said:

I loved reading about everyone's thoughts on paper vs virtual menus and the merits of the various covid protocols, but I really only want to know if there is any point in us buying the Ultimate Drinks Package, well on this thread anyway. 😉

 

As you can buy the package on board on the second day still, my preference is to get on board, check out the menu and prices and judge on your own personal tastes if what you would normally drink is even included.  If you have a late check-in, and a bit of exploring the ship on the first day, the package is often not worth it for the first day.

 

Anything not included in the package, you only get a 20% discount off the price.

 

And has been mentioned, not just alcohol.  Some of the mocktails are refreshing during the day as well.

 

 

[sammyh25]

45 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

I am not sure that anyone can answer whether it is worth you getting the drinks package as that is a very personal decision and based on how much and what you drink!

You misunderstood me I think. I'm not asking anyone if it's a good idea whether we buy the package or not, that as you said is a personal decision, I'm trying to ascertain just what is now included in the Ultimate Drinks Package.

The P&O website is saying, "With our generous Ultimate drinks package you can enjoy anything you fancy. Nearly every drink we serve is included for a fixed price per person, per day, and you can pay with on-board spending money." 

The implication is that almost all drinks are included in the package, if people are now saying cocktails aren't included and other drinks are above the £6.95 limit then there is an issue.  The website is misleading and maybe miss-selling the product. 

[sammyh25]

32 minutes ago, thornegirl said:

If this works this was the drinks menu from the Crows Next last weekend

 

 

137D28DE-FE12-4A5E-ACE6-D20B913948ED.heic 1.1 MB · 8 downloads BC7426CE-F4C4-43D7-9CDB-BDBE6FFB7843.heic 1.18 MB · 2 downloads

Think these are Apple files, but managed to find a website to convert them so I could see them on the PC, thank you.

Coming from Celebrity and Royal Caribbean the selection of drinks seems quite poor/restricted.  Does each bar onboard have different choices or is this quite typical?

Edited July 7, 2021 by sammyh25
Corrected info.

[LifeonMars]

Can anyone remember what draught Larger was available please with P&O 

[Son of Anarchy]

32 minutes ago, LifeonMars said:

Can anyone remember what draught Larger was available please with P&O 

Previously: Stella, Peroni and I think Carling. Might have had Fosters as well.  This varies between the bars though, so not all are available in all bars.

[thornegirl]

1 hour ago, LifeonMars said:

Can anyone remember what draught Larger was available please with P&O 

In the Crows nest it was John Smiths and Peroni on draught, but the Peroni pump was broken so my husband had the Thatchers Gold bottle.  We usually drank in the Glass House as we like the different wines in there.