Drinks package/policy changes?

[AndyMichelle]

5 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Surely the answer is to wait until Thursday to see if anything happens, after all that's the first date in the supposed email in post 1?  Rather than speculating on what is or isn't happening if that date passes and nothing occurs that will settle the issue of whether it is a fact or not.  Until that time it would seem rather futile to stress over the issue.

Of course, you are the voice of reason. 

I am enjoying having the popcorn out to see the debate between 'P&O always get it right' and 'don't believe a word they say' 😂

That's my Bank Holiday sorted... Sad I know😊

Andy 

[mickyc123]

 

 it wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me in relation to the spirits being  stopped from taking on at Embarkation but do get why it has caused so much attention across the platforms

 

Personally the way things are going it is getting nearer to the point that the as previous people have said all the changes added together makes the product less value personally to me.

 

the other thing that might be happening here is that the information has deliberately been leaked to See how it lands to the public

 

Which at present is not very well

 

 Was just thinking a way around  the spirits situation  could be

 

increase options of spirits to prebook before cruise for cabin consumption at  slightly reduced cost to nearer Supermarket price 

 

prebook before  the cruise  on the my p@O and left in stateroom on arrival or delivered by cabin steward if theft is a potential issue

 

spirits are then sold by P@O who would then make money from spirits sold  instead of the supermarket 

p&O would also have a even greater buying power with increased volumes ordered

 

P@O wins with extra revenue

customer doesn’t have to buy and bring with them and is pretty much same price of a supermarket

 

the only loser is the supermarket not getting the sale

 

Hopefully with a wider selection 95% of people will find a product they would like

 

 

Just a idea but would never happen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crompton21]

I see from this being reported on another cruise site that the corkage fee has apparently been reduced.  Another cut, where will it end?

[zap99]

14 hours ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

It seems P&O are operating Schrodingers cruise ships.

Some people (I am one) think that P&O are trying to appeal more and more to the 3 star package holiday audience and are becoming more and more of a cheap and cheerful product and some claim that costs are rocketing and value is less and less. 

We are on Arvia at the moment 3 star?, don't know, but will bow to your greater experience. So far all is fine. Sounds like you won't be booking P&O again.

[zap99]

15 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

I suspect people still attempt to and a number will no doubt succeed especially if packed in a suitcase. We have 2 sturdy bottle cases which we have used in the past to bring a bottle or 2 of Rioja back from Spain, put in suitcase as would not be able to carry it on thru security at the airport. Nothing to stop me using them to take alcohol onboard in one of those containers. Security at U.K. ports is a third party contracted to the port not the cruise line. Scanners cannot distinguish between a bottle of gin and a bottle of lemonade, so I can’t see any cruise line wanting to open ever suitcase which might or might not contain alcohol, not cost effective use of time. 
 

The restrictions on spirits wouldn’t affect us as we rarely drink them, but others will no doubt see it as a restriction of freedom to take a bottle on board for personal use in a cabin.

We take 2 bottles of wine. We have never taken spirits, so if true doesn't bother us in the slightest.

[Mollag]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Surely the answer is to wait until Thursday to see if anything happens, after all that's the first date in the supposed email in post 1?  Rather than speculating on what is or isn't happening if that date passes and nothing occurs that will settle the issue of whether it is a fact or not.  Until that time it would seem rather futile to stress over the issue.

Notification emails being sent out tomorrow in order of sailing dates allegedly 

[Bazrat]

2 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

Yes, it's a tricky one to know what is true but I must add that, twice very recently, we have been given information in writing from P&O that turned out to be false, even after going away and checking...

I still wouldn't be surprised if there is some truth in it, despite the email denial, but time will tell. 

Andy 

Totally agree with you until there is a definitive reply from P&O then no one can say with any authority what is correct, but on here speculations usually degenerates into lowering standards on P&O.

[Bazrat]

39 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We are on Arvia at the moment 3 star?, don't know, but will bow to your greater experience. So far all is fine. Sounds like you won't be booking P&O again.

We found Arvia a really lovely ship especially the Atrium, we spent to much time in there watching the sea pass us by, keel and Cow our favourite restaurant, but saying that we are not that sophisticated.

[Clodia]

On 5/5/2024 at 11:17 AM, Megabear2 said:

Most of them are indeed premixed, it was explained to us whilst on Britannia that was the company policy.  Several people were complete frozen cocktails had little flavour.  The packets being used were from Funkin which you can buy in the local supermarket.

That's odd, because I had several frozen cocktails on Iona on my last cruise and watched them being made in front of me as I was sitting at the bar.

[Gettingwarmer]

13 minutes ago, Clodia said:

That's odd, because I had several frozen cocktails on Iona on my last cruise and watched them being made in front of me as I was sitting at the bar.

Just to confirm, this was each ingredient being put in separately, ice added and then mixed. Or was it one ingredient, ice added and then mixed. 

[zap99]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

We found Arvia a really lovely ship especially the Atrium, we spent to much time in there watching the sea pass us by, keel and Cow our favourite restaurant, but saying that we are not that sophisticated.

We are enjoying it. Lots of dining options, bags of entertainment to our mind it is up there with Britannia,  but we are common as muck.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

2 hours ago, zap99 said:

We are on Arvia at the moment 3 star?, don't know, but will bow to your greater experience. So far all is fine. Sounds like you won't be booking P&O again.

I really think that I probably won’t.

i have three cruises booked which I’ll still do but I won’t book anything else for now, I’ll see how I feel after the next one.

If it’s not clear, I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with what P&O is now, just that I liked what P&O used to be and will certainly use other lines more if not exclude P&O completely.

 

[yorkshirephil]

just wait until the new P&O ship (Mayflower) comes out. Dormitories for each grade plain hammocks free, coloured ones with tassels an extra tenner a day. Trestle tables in the MDR with big troughs of baked beans.

E by gum Doris can you remember the days when we had our own cabins, you could have a five ounce steak, and green beans, they had clowns and cheese wheels, you could even bring on your favourite rum for your daily measure of grog. I do Bert but it is good value when yer think about it.

[AndyMichelle]

20 minutes ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

I really think that I probably won’t.

i have three cruises booked which I’ll still do but I won’t book anything else for now, I’ll see how I feel after the next one.

If it’s not clear, I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with what P&O is now, just that I liked what P&O used to be and will certainly use other lines more if not exclude P&O completely.

 

You make good points, it's all about expectations. 

We only miss what we had before. 

'If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor'... 

We just had a great cruise on Britannia, but we knew what to expect and made sure the rest of our party did too. All the first time cruisers (5) with us have fallen in love with cruising and are booking more cruises with P&O and taking others with them. 

We have opened our minds to other cruise lines but will still book P&O when it suits us. 

There seems to be enough people ready to replace us cynics if we do move on, the ships are busy. 

Andy 

[showingdiva]

18 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

Just wait until the new P&O ship (Mayflower) comes out.

 

I'd put good money on Arbeania.   There has to be a sponsorship deal out there somewhere with some supermarket / vegetable packer.   A hull with artwork like the AIDA smiley ships.

 

On topic though, aren't P&O and Cunard two of the few left cruising out of Southampton who do allow spirits to be brought on board?

Edited May 6 by showingdiva

[zap99]

39 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

just wait until the new P&O ship (Mayflower) comes out. Dormitories for each grade plain hammocks free, coloured ones with tassels an extra tenner a day. Trestle tables in the MDR with big troughs of baked beans.

E by gum Doris can you remember the days when we had our own cabins, you could have a five ounce steak, and green beans, they had clowns and cheese wheels, you could even bring on your favourite rum for your daily measure of grog. I do Bert but it is good value when yer think about it.

Walace and Gromit tea party at 5.15. You didn't get that In the so called " good old days ". Wrong cheese wheel Gromit.

[zap99]

27 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

You make good points, it's all about expectations. 

We only miss what we had before. 

'If I hadn't seen such riches, I could live with being poor'... 

We just had a great cruise on Britannia, but we knew what to expect and made sure the rest of our party did too. All the first time cruisers (5) with us have fallen in love with cruising and are booking more cruises with P&O and taking others with them. 

We have opened our minds to other cruise lines but will still book P&O when it suits us. 

There seems to be enough people ready to replace us cynics if we do move on, the ships are busy. 

Andy 

On Ariva there are around 5,300. I don't know how many are new to cruising, a good few I imagine. Lots of happy smiley passengers and not many grumpy's. I suspect P&O have it about right. If some of the discontents defect to Fred and Saga, I think P&O will survive. Lots of happy little kids found a duck. We didn't, so our next cruise is with Royal.😂

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

39 minutes ago, showingdiva said:

 

I'd put good money on Arbeania.   There has to be a sponsorship deal out there somewhere with some supermarket / vegetable packer.   A hull with artwork like the AIDA smiley ships.

 

On topic though, aren't P&O and Cunard two of the few left cruising out of Southampton who do allow spirits to be brought on board?

I believe they are the only ones?

I am on QM on Sunday but I wouldn’t ever bother taking alcohol onboard anyway.

[Lee Jones Jnr]

I think it’s nice that a broader audience are now enjoying cruise ships. There are cruise lines for everyone, it’s simply that P&O has very strongly shifted focus to a become a different product attracting different people than it used to.

[zap99]

7 minutes ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

I think it’s nice that a broader audience are now enjoying cruise ships. There are cruise lines for everyone, it’s simply that P&O has very strongly shifted focus to a become a different product attracting different people than it used to.

Some new to cruising and some old hands. On this current Arvia cruise there are a good few old hands that love the new ships. In the last couple of years we have sailed with P&O, Celebrity and RC. We need another NCL soon to go up a level and become  upper echelon very important persons. P&O will do for us for the next few years as will others .If and when we decide P&O are too downmarket to warrant our continued patronage we will just quietly slip off somewhere else, without announcing our departure to the world.

[Windsurfboy]

P&O prices have come down, yet people complain  foods not as good as it used to be ..........       You can eat everyday in Epicurean and not spend anything like Saga or Fred money.  Indeed  in real terms you can eat every night in Epicurean  and spend less than you used to to eat every night in MDR.

 

As an experiment have booked Arvia Mediterranean cruise next month, a  rear corner suite,  have booked  Epicurean,  Sindhu,  Limelight and Sushi (can't spell  mizuh...)  every night for £750.  Total cost still less than 2 weeks in an ordinary cabin on Saga. Waiting to  see how it works out.

 

 

[Lee Jones Jnr]

9 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Some new to cruising and some old hands. On this current Arvia cruise there are a good few old hands that love the new ships. In the last couple of years we have sailed with P&O, Celebrity and RC. We need another NCL soon to go up a level and become  upper echelon very important persons. P&O will do for us for the next few years as will others .If and when we decide P&O are too downmarket to warrant our continued patronage we will just quietly slip off somewhere else, without announcing our departure to the world.

I haven’t been on Arvia.

I have been on Iona and am on there again in Oct, I like the ship well enough.

It seems like you think we are having some kind of argument or contest and you need to win, so whatever it is, consider yourself the champ.

Edited May 6 by Lee Jones Jnr

[Lee Jones Jnr]

4 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

P&O prices have come down, yet people complain  foods not as good as it used to be ..........       You can eat everyday in Epicurean and not spend anything like Saga or Fred money.  Indeed  in real terms you can eat every night in Epicurean  and spend less than you used to to eat every night in MDR.

 

As an experiment have booked Arvia Mediterranean cruise next month, a  rear corner suite,  have booked  Epicurean,  Sindhu,  Limelight and Sushi (can't spell  mizuh...)  every night for £750.  Total cost still less than 2 weeks in an ordinary cabin on Saga. Waiting to  see how it works out.

 

 

Possibly a more ‘like for like’ comparison might be QV/QE/QA or NCL or similar, something closer in size?

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, Lee Jones Jnr said:

I haven’t been on Arvia.

I have been on Iona and am on there again in Oct, I like the ship well enough.

it seems like you think we are having some kind of argument or contest and you need to win, so whatever it is, consider yourself the champ.

Thank you. Most kind.

[Bazrat]

After the two cruise’s this year and the ones next year, and the one the year after we will not be using P&O again because there are to many people like us onboard.