First P & O cruise questions

[cruiser3775]

The main extra costs that are important to me are the charge for room service on P & O, and the fact that I can't BYO wine.

[joejoe 59]

On 1/10/2023 at 12:09 PM, windsor26 said:

I believe room service started at $5 for a cup of tea and as we saw on the pool deck a burger is also about that and chips $3

 

When you embark go straight to the dining room where there will be people to take your week's reservations for time and restaurant choice which saves you going each day   You can cancel of course anytime you need to

 

The bottle of wine at $36 was in my opinion awful  it was like licking pennies  -urg ! -  The bar tender did let us try a sample before we purchased so we left it for another time an stayed with cider and shandy instead of wine for our cruise   The next price was quite high and did not look any better for us.

Dragon Lady has 2 menus and they change them after 3 days so remember that when you choose your days.

 

Have a great time   (you can take a few cans of soda on board (loose) in your carry on luggage

 

I love your description of the wine...

Like licking pennies 🤣 

I tried a few wines by the glass & they were bloody awful 😖 

By day 2 I would buy a bottle of Oyster Bay sav blanc from the dining room at lunch time, keep it cool until happy hour & take it wherever I went...happy days.

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by joejoe 59

[valantine80]

Not exactly on topic but we are having a discussion with a friend who is a long time cruiser re using OBC. He is telling us that on P&O and Princess you are not able to use OBC to pay for alcoholic drinks on board. Can anyone confirm if this is the case?

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, valantine80 said:

Not exactly on topic but we are having a discussion with a friend who is a long time cruiser re using OBC. He is telling us that on P&O and Princess you are not able to use OBC to pay for alcoholic drinks on board. Can anyone confirm if this is the case?

Bunkum, absolute bunkum.

 

It could possibly mean that you cant use OBC to pre-buy a drinks package prior to boarding, which would be correct. A passenger under18 would also be unable to purchase alcohol with their OBC.

 

Once aboard though, your OBC gets absorbed by anything you purchase - including alcohol, including duty free alcohol too.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

I like the theatre and the show costs $20 on P and O. It all mounts up.

[Aus Traveller]

6 hours ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

I like the theatre and the show costs $20 on P and O. It all mounts up.

The charge is for the show in the Black Circus show on P&O. There is no charge for the show in the main theatre.

[cruiser3775]

I've been working my way through the very long thread arxcards attached in page 1. Lots of interesting stuff. I found the comments on the newly opened cruise terminal in Brisbane interesting. I went through it six months later, in November, when I guess they had fixed some of the teething problems. But they can't easily fix the location, out there in the mangrove swamps in an industrial area with no local shops or services. By now, at least, the taxi drivers know where it is, though beware the scam that some of them are using, turning off the meter and charging what they like.  It's been reported in the local media in Brisbane, and I got caught.

To save anyone trawling through the whole thread, there are menus on page 13.  Thanks, arxcards.

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, cruiser3775 said:

I've been working my way through the very long thread arxcards attached in page 1. Lots of interesting stuff. I found the comments on the newly opened cruise terminal in Brisbane interesting. I went through it six months later, in November, when I guess they had fixed some of the teething problems. But they can't easily fix the location, out there in the mangrove swamps in an industrial area with no local shops or services. By now, at least, the taxi drivers know where it is, though beware the scam that some of them are using, turning off the meter and charging what they like.  It's been reported in the local media in Brisbane, and I got caught.

To save anyone trawling through the whole thread, there are menus on page 13.  Thanks, arxcards.

We were on one of the very early cruises from the new terminal in June. We didn't discover any teething problems. Actually it was better than because there weren't so many ships operating out of Brisbane and the long-term parking area was nearly empty.

[mr walker]

22 hours ago, arxcards said:

We can survive without pizza, burgers and ice cream on a cruise.

No, no, no! Can't survive without proper ice-cream Geoff. Happy to pay for it 🙂 

[arxcards]

37 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

I've been working my way through the very long thread arxcards attached in page 1. Lots of interesting stuff. I found the comments on the newly opened cruise terminal in Brisbane interesting. I went through it six months later, in November, when I guess they had fixed some of the teething problems. But they can't easily fix the location, out there in the mangrove swamps in an industrial area with no local shops or services. By now, at least, the taxi drivers know where it is, though beware the scam that some of them are using, turning off the meter and charging what they like.  It's been reported in the local media in Brisbane, and I got caught.

To save anyone trawling through the whole thread, there are menus on page 13.  Thanks, arxcards.

The only teething problem I can recall at BICT was a delay waiting to get the gangways to align correctly with the ship. We were the first cruise ship to use the facility, and the port operators had a new toy to get used to. There may have been something else, but if so, long forgotten.

[arxcards]

19 minutes ago, mr walker said:

No, no, no! Can't survive without proper ice-cream Geoff. Happy to pay for it 🙂 

I am happy to pay for a NZ ice cream thickshake. Twice the ice cream, but lower price. People don't seem to grumble much about paying for a milk/thickshake. Maybe that is because they also charge for similar offerings on other brands.

[valantine80]

15 hours ago, arxcards said:

Bunkum, absolute bunkum.

 

It could possibly mean that you cant use OBC to pre-buy a drinks package prior to boarding, which would be correct. A passenger under18 would also be unable to purchase alcohol with their OBC.

 

Once aboard though, your OBC gets absorbed by anything you purchase - including alcohol, including duty free alcohol too.

Thank you for confirming what I thought, but he was so adamant that he made me doubt myself.

[arxcards]

38 minutes ago, valantine80 said:

Thank you for confirming what I thought, but he was so adamant that he made me doubt myself.

Just to add, if you have a Princess plus or premier package fare, it is harder to spend OBC at the bars with so much of it included in your fare. Even then, you can still use OBC for bottles of wine or duty free alcohol.

[Aus Traveller]

18 hours ago, valantine80 said:

Not exactly on topic but we are having a discussion with a friend who is a long time cruiser re using OBC. He is telling us that on P&O and Princess you are not able to use OBC to pay for alcoholic drinks on board. Can anyone confirm if this is the case?

We use OBC for alcohol on both P&O and Princess. I have heard it said you can't use OBC in the casino, but that also isn't so.

[valantine80]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

We use OBC for alcohol on both P&O and Princess. I have heard it said you can't use OBC in the casino, but that also isn't so.

It does state in Passage Contract that OBC cannot be used for casino credit and medical expenses but as we know rules don't always apply.

 

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, valantine80 said:

It does state in Passage Contract that OBC cannot be used for casino credit and medical expenses but as we know rules don't always apply.

 

So right. I am glad they don't in some cases, but I don't go to the casino and I hope I don't have medical expenses. 🙂

[cruiser3775]

Now I have read the drinks menus on P & O, I have a question.  

The wines by the glass are very limited, only 2 or 3 in each type of wine. The offerings in bottles are much better.  But 'I'm a solo traveller, and I don't want to drink a whole bottle at once. I think I read that you can start the bottle and they will keep it for you, or you can take it back to your room and bring it along the next time you eat.  Is that correct? Also, are the prices shown all you pay, or do you have to add a compulsory gratuity on top of that, like on Holland America?

[Aus Traveller]

49 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Now I have read the drinks menus on P & O, I have a question.  

The wines by the glass are very limited, only 2 or 3 in each type of wine. The offerings in bottles are much better.  But 'I'm a solo traveller, and I don't want to drink a whole bottle at once. I think I read that you can start the bottle and they will keep it for you, or you can take it back to your room and bring it along the next time you eat.  Is that correct? Also, are the prices shown all you pay, or do you have to add a compulsory gratuity on top of that, like on Holland America?

Firstly, the price you see is what you pay. No gratuity on top.

 

I agree. I couldn't drink a whole bottle of wine. Half a bottle is my absolute limit. P&O used to keep a part bottle of wine for passengers for the next night, but the last couple of years before COVID they stopped this. On our recent two cruises, we didn't ask. There is absolutely no problem with you taking the left over wine to your cabin and bringing it back the next night.

 

I don't know what wine you drink. We drink white, particularly pinot grigio. I can recommend one called BlueSand ($36).

[cruiser3775]

Thanks, Aus Traveller.  That seems to be the answer to give me much more choice of wines, if bought by the bottle.  P & O seems to have some decent choices across all different categories as long as you buy the whole bottle, not just a glass. It works out cheaper, too and you can be sure of getting the wine you ordered. On my  recent cruise, I ordered something by the glass and the waiter brought me something else, and didn't even apologise when I explained politely that it was not what I had ordered. I get the impression that many of the cruise ship waiters at the moment are very inexperienced. 

I can keep the half full bottle in my room fridge and bring a bottle carry bag with me.

[Aus Traveller]

7 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Thanks, Aus Traveller.  That seems to be the answer to give me much more choice of wines, if bought by the bottle.  P & O seems to have some decent choices across all different categories as long as you buy the whole bottle, not just a glass. It works out cheaper, too and you can be sure of getting the wine you ordered. On my  recent cruise, I ordered something by the glass and the waiter brought me something else, and didn't even apologise when I explained politely that it was not what I had ordered. I get the impression that many of the cruise ship waiters at the moment are very inexperienced. 

I can keep the half full bottle in my room fridge and bring a bottle carry bag with me.

We keep any left-over wine in the fridge, but often the fridge is not very cold. To take my wine to the dining room, I made a simple black cotton bag. It is unobtrusive and folds up to virtually nothing. After all, I don't need an insulated bag while I am taking it to the MDR.

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

We keep any left-over wine in the fridge, but often the fridge is not very cold. To take my wine to the dining room, I made a simple black cotton bag. It is unobtrusive and folds up to virtually nothing. After all, I don't need an insulated bag while I am taking it to the MDR.

I kept a tall container of ice in my fridge to help keep it colder. 

[Rassa]

Going P&O in June on Adventure and I haven't kept up with what is happening at the Brisbane Cruise  Terminal.   Would anyone know if they have a shuttle bus to the city yet on a day we have a stop there.   Sorry if I haven't been paying attention.

[cruiser3775]

Where do you get the ice from?

[Aus Traveller]

27 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Where do you get the ice from?

One of the bars.

[MMDown Under]

41 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Where do you get the ice from?

From the buffet beside water, coffee and tea.  My mug had a lid, so I didn't spill anything.