Taking soft drinks onboard

[Confused.com]

Hi,

 

What quantity of soft drinks are you allowed to take onboard Arvia at embarkation?

 

Some say 12 cans max whilst others say unlimited soft drinks. Have searched p&o website top to bottom and can not find it.

 

In addition to taking 2 x1 litre (me + wife) of alcohol, we also want to take 2 X 2 litre plastic bottles of cola.

 

Can these be put in suitcases or best in hand luggage?

[lindyloo22]

Most people say you can take on as much as you can carry, don’t put them in suit case you might end up with a lot of damp clothes.

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, Confused.com said:

Hi,

 

What quantity of soft drinks are you allowed to take onboard Arvia at embarkation?

 

Some say 12 cans max whilst others say unlimited soft drinks. Have searched p&o website top to bottom and can not find it.

 

In addition to taking 2 x1 litre (me + wife) of alcohol, we also want to take 2 X 2 litre plastic bottles of cola.

 

Can these be put in suitcases or best in hand luggage?

 

Yup! As many as you can carry.

 

Just a thought, your big bottles of cola won't fit in the fridge and may well go flat before you finish them. You may be as well taking cans; you can easily stack twelve cans in there at a time; pic here

[tring]

10 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

Yup! As many as you can carry.

 

Just a thought, your big bottles of cola won't fit in the fridge and may well go flat before you finish them. You may be as well taking cans; you can easily stack twelve cans in there at a time; pic here

 

We have not been on Arvia, so not sure if the fridges are different, but suspect they will be much the same as Aurora and Azura which we were on in the last few months.  On both ships we were picking up 1.5ltre bottles of diet Coke at various ports.  They are quite dumpy compared to the bigger ones, so fitted in the fridge fine. 

 

We take a mix of cans and one 1.5 ltre bottle at embarkation to be sure.  You can usually pick up coke fairly easily at most ports to top up the stock.

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by tring

[Bill Y]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

We have not been on Arvia, so not sure if the fridges are different, but suspect they will be much the same as Aurora and Azura which we were on in the last few months.  On both ships we were picking up 1.5ltre bottles of diet Coke at various ports.  They are quite dumpy compared to the bigger ones, so fitted in the fridge fine. 

 

We take a mix of cans and one 1.5 ltre bottle at embarkation to be sure.  You can usually pick up coke fairly easily at most ports to top up the stock.

 

If you need mixers, tonic is not that easy to obtain, airports appear to sell every drink except mixers, you seem to need to hunt for it abroad, we have found it in Carrefour convenience stores and Chinese owned supermarkets in such diverse places as the Caribbean and Australia. I don't know if its a British taste like sherry, so we now take a few bottles with us.

[kalos]

If it helps anyone a few years ago we took onboard a few Pepsi bottles (500ml ) and 

had no problem going through in our hand luggage at Southampton security .

Once we got to Hamburg we bought some more and brought them onboard with us .

Getting back onboard we showed the security what we had bought and the till receipt

and were waved through without issue .

[zap99]

3 hours ago, tring said:

 

We have not been on Arvia, so not sure if the fridges are different, but suspect they will be much the same as Aurora and Azura which we were on in the last few months.  On both ships we were picking up 1.5ltre bottles of diet Coke at various ports.  They are quite dumpy compared to the bigger ones, so fitted in the fridge fine. 

 

We take a mix of cans and one 1.5 ltre bottle at embarkation to be sure.  You can usually pick up coke fairly easily at most ports to top up the stock.

 

That's what we do. Take on a few small bottles/cans when we board and top up as necessary in the ports. We occasionally take a bottle, or 2 of wine at the ports. No problem getting them back on board....yet.

 

[windra06]

I was wondering the same thing, the AUS site states 12 cans and no plastic bottles but the UK site just states they prefer you not to.

We aren't getting a drinks package as we dont really drink alot of alcohol or even soda, we will probably be drinking mostly water.

I wondered if we each carried on a case of water (or as many as we could carry) whether that would be allowed?

Edited April 1, 2023 by windra06

[Camberley]

Last time we took loads of cans of soft drinks and tonics, kept some in the fridge and the rest sorted until we had more fridge space. Plus a bottle each of a spirit of choice. Perfect for balcony drinks and get togethers!

[LouCD]

Are we allowed to drink our own soft drinks around the ship or do they have to be drunk in the cabins?

[kalos]

3 minutes ago, LouCD said:

Are we allowed to drink our own soft drinks around the ship or do they have to be drunk in the cabins?

Only for cabin use .

[bobstheboy]

When sailing from Southampton we have a carry on wheelie with 24 cans of pepsi maxi and a dozen cans of tonic. Keep then under the bed and top up the fridge as required. Of course a couple of litres of gin !

[Camberley]

49 minutes ago, LouCD said:

Are we allowed to drink our own soft drinks around the ship or do they have to be drunk in the cabins?

Well you’re not supposed to drink them around the ship……

[zap99]

3 hours ago, kalos said:

Only for cabin use .

I won't tell if you don't. 🤐

[tring]

4 hours ago, LouCD said:

Are we allowed to drink our own soft drinks around the ship or do they have to be drunk in the cabins?

 

For the sake of the cost of some soft drinks it is hardly worth trying to smuggle them out of the cabin.  They are not expensive on P&O.

 

Must admit though we had been sunbathing on a very high deck (above pool deck) on both Azura and Aurora and the staff very rarely, if at all, came round offering to take drink orders some days, so we did tend to take a bottle of water up there sometimes. We prefer our cola with ice though, so we went to the bar and collected that if we needed to, or asked someone working in the bar to take them up for us.

 

 

[TigerB]

11 hours ago, LouCD said:

Are we allowed to drink our own soft drinks around the ship or do they have to be drunk in the cabins?

 

11 hours ago, kalos said:

Only for cabin use .

 

10 hours ago, Camberley said:

Well you’re not supposed to drink them around the ship……

 

I would be grateful if you could direct me to the section in the P&O terms and conditions where it states that soft drinks brought on board can only be consumed in your cabin.

 

We have previously consumed such drinks outside our cabin, when sat on deck chilling out, for example. Even last September, when playing bingo in the Live Lounge on Britannia, we were brought glasses of ice for our cans of Lidl Lilt lookalike and not challenged.

[kalos]

I think I was told this at the reception desk when I enquired about it and was told it

was ok (rightly or wrongly) to bring drinks onboard  but for cabin use only .

As you have brought your Lidl cans (not big ones 😉) then had no issue it must be ok.

or is it ? 

Things can change so I suppose do what I did or e-mail P&O for their stance on this.

 

 

[Red Leicester]

17 hours ago, TigerB said:

 

 

 

I would be grateful if you could direct me to the section in the P&O terms and conditions where it states that soft drinks brought on board can only be consumed in your cabin.

 

We have previously consumed such drinks outside our cabin, when sat on deck chilling out, for example. Even last September, when playing bingo in the Live Lounge on Britannia, we were brought glasses of ice for our cans of Lidl Lilt lookalike and not challenged.

This is what frustrates me about forums (and not just this one)... head straight to the T&Cs and / or if the answer isn't what I want then the CEOs email is...

 

To the original poster - take your soft drinks on board, drink in your cabin or balcony if you have one.  If you want to do them public side then do so but if you get asked to stop or cease then I would, pick battles and all that.  Don't sweat the small stuff..  To be in the cabin is fine and I do.  Outside my cabin I don't out of courtesy, though I may have done if I bought a bottle of cola when out and about.  Feel free to try, if you get stopped then lesson learned.

 

One of my things is to bring back a bottle of local brand cola from each port so I end up bringing off more than I take on.  Never been stopped.

[Goosebear Mum]

Remember, it was those who took advantage of the (previous) generous alcohol rules, who eventually ruined it for all…. as P&O responded by introducing an alcohol restriction for carry on, in light of those wheeling on boxes and cases of alcohol for booze cruises.

 

please don’t ruin the carry on the soft drink generosity too…. It’s for drinking in the cabin/balcony

 

 

[TigerB]

4 hours ago, Red Leicester said:

This is what frustrates me about forums (and not just this one)... head straight to the T&Cs and / or if the answer isn't what I want then the CEOs email is...

 

To the original poster - take your soft drinks on board, drink in your cabin or balcony if you have one.  If you want to do them public side then do so but if you get asked to stop or cease then I would, pick battles and all that.  Don't sweat the small stuff..  To be in the cabin is fine and I do.  Outside my cabin I don't out of courtesy, though I may have done if I bought a bottle of cola when out and about.  Feel free to try, if you get stopped then lesson learned.

 

One of my things is to bring back a bottle of local brand cola from each port so I end up bringing off more than I take on.  Never been stopped.

Are your comments directed at me?  If so, what have I done to cause you frustration?  Several contributers have written that soft drinks brought on board can only be consumed in your cabin. I was just seeking clarification as to where that is stated by P&O, because I can't find it.  It isn't that the answer isn't what I want, it simply is not there.

I am not by any means being discourteous by drinking from a can outside my cabin, and have been allowed to do so previously. I will continue to do so occasionally, and if I am asked to stop by a crew member, and the reason explained, I will do so. I certainly won't be emailing anyone.

 

 

3 hours ago, Goosebear Mum said:

please don’t ruin the carry on the soft drink generosity too…. It’s for drinking in the cabin/balcony

 

 

I ask again, where is that stated?

 

[Red Leicester]

No definitely not aimed at you nor anyone in particular. Just a lot of little stuff many people get really angry about and think P&O is out to get them. But why does it really matter whether it’s stated in the T&Cs?

 

Back to the original point, take as much as you want to on board and drink wherever.  Bigger things to worry about in the grand scheme of things. But as stated above if it gets out of hand then restrictions can happen. 

 

We shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.  It’s a holiday, enjoy it, don’t get stressed.  P&O aren’t out to get us in my opinion.  

[Angel57]

57 minutes ago, Red Leicester said:

No definitely not aimed at you nor anyone in particular. Just a lot of little stuff many people get really angry about and think P&O is out to get them. But why does it really matter whether it’s stated in the T&Cs?

 

Back to the original point, take as much as you want to on board and drink wherever.  Bigger things to worry about in the grand scheme of things. But as stated above if it gets out of hand then restrictions can happen. 

 

We shouldn’t sweat the small stuff.  It’s a holiday, enjoy it, don’t get stressed.  P&O aren’t out to get us in my opinion.  

Spot on. The main thing is not to take advantage.

[AndyMichelle]

I suppose I would relate it to taking your own drinks into a pub, it wouldn't have crossed my mind. 

It may not be the rules, but it just doesn't feel right. 

Is it then OK to take your supermarket bottle of gin into a bar and ask the waiter to bring you glasses and ice? 

Each to their own. 

Andy 

[Goosebear Mum]

5 hours ago, Red Leicester said:

No definitely not aimed at you nor anyone in particular. Just a lot of little stuff many people get really angry about and think P&O is out to get them. But why does it really matter whether it’s stated in the T&Cs?

you summed up my response perfectly. And I didn’t quote anyone individually.
 

I doubt P&O would have any issue with a toddler drinking their own carton on favourite drink in a buffet (nor would I if I saw it)  but if I saw adults/teenagers opening their own cans of cheaper drinks around the ship, sorry, that takes the ‘P…’. It would not be ‘morally right’ to drink your own drinks in a hotel bar, and I wouldn’t demand to ask the hotel for their regulations to tell me common sense’.  Remember almost every public seating area is covered by a bar

 

However, p&o’s help site is awful from where it used to be… try finding many of the useful previous tips/rules/etc, most are missing.  

[Goosebear Mum]

P.s. most of my reply above was not to ‘Red Leicester’, only my first paragraph.  I pressed send before I finished typing and couldn’t modify. 
 

The rest of my post is general, not to anyone specifically