Buying bottles of spirits from Room Service

[CaroleF]

There are a couple of postings on CC saying that it is no longer possible to buy full bottles of spirits from Room Service. Someone back from a cruise on Ventura says they were told now that all cabins were going to have stocked minibars (all items to be purchased) it won't be possible to buy whole bottles from Room Service. Someone on Britannia seemed to be saying the same thing. Has anyone heard anything about this. We don't generally buy spirits from Room Service but I know some people do. We have on occasions purchased a bottle of fizz if we were entertaining some people to drinks before dinner. I don't know if this new ruling applies to wine as well as spirits. I would imagine people sailing from Southampton will want to use the fridge in the cabin to put their own drinks in and not want the fridge full of items for purchase. Some passengers said they had asked whether this was going to lead to a prohibition on bringing alcohol on board but they were told no it didn't.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I certainly don't want the fridge stuffed full and would ask for it to be emptied if it was. We don't drink in our cabin and prefer to do that in bars and restaurants and generally use the fridge to keep drinking water cool.

[Stephen]

As long as there is room for the red and white boxes, fizz and water I don't mind

[wolfie]

On our last cruise, 7 weeks ago, P&O were only too happy to sell us 2 bottles of Lanson to drink in our cabin with another couple.

[david63]

I thought that the purchase of duty free spirits for in cabin consumption had been stopped several years ago. There is, however, a "duty free" shop I beleieve on board all ships

It is not, and never has been in my experience, a problem to buy anything from the wine list via room service.

[daib GC]

I thought that the purchase of duty free spirits for in cabin consumption had been stopped several years ago. There is, however, a "duty free" shop I beleieve on board all ships

It is not, and never has been in my experience, a problem to buy anything from the wine list via room service.

The DF shop and the in cabin large bottles of gin etc. Are different things.

[Raybosailor]

I'm with Merv on this one, we have never touched the drinks in a mini bar when available in hotels in the past, mainly due to the rip off prices but on a cruise we only sleep and shower in the cabin anyway.

[CaroleF]

It's not the Duty Free bottles that were being referred to just the normal spirits that you can buy from Room Service. The latest postings on the subject on CC are confirming that bottles of spirits are no longer available to order from Room Service, no-one has mentioned wine or fizz. Apparently you can ask to have the contents of the minibar removed if you don't wish to purchase any. I haven't heard anything about the pricing - I bet the small bottles are not cheap! Of course P&O's rulings on taking alcohol on board are the most generous of any cruise line. Apparently one cruise line makes you pay a corkage charge on any bottle of alcohol you take on board no matter if you are only intending to drink it in your cabin.

[david63]

I haven't heard anything about the pricing

I have the price list in front of me at this very moment:

Jack Daniels Whiskey & Cola (330ml) - £4.50
Gordon's Gin & Tonic (250ml) - £4.00
Smirnoff & Diet Cola (250ml) - £4.00

[Silver_Shiney]

It's not the Duty Free bottles that were being referred to just the normal spirits that you can buy from Room Service. The latest postings on the subject on CC are confirming that bottles of spirits are no longer available to order from Room Service, no-one has mentioned wine or fizz. Apparently you can ask to have the contents of the minibar removed if you don't wish to purchase any. I haven't heard anything about the pricing - I bet the small bottles are not cheap! Of course P&O's rulings on taking alcohol on board are the most generous of any cruise line. Apparently one cruise line makes you pay a corkage charge on any bottle of alcohol you take on board no matter if you are only intending to drink it in your cabin.

So hide the bottles in your suitcases until your drunk them, and then leave the empties outside someone else's cabin

[Silver_Shiney]

I haven't heard anything about the pricing

I have the price list in front of me at this very moment:

Jack Daniels Whiskey & Cola (330ml) - £4.50
Gordon's Gin & Tonic (250ml) - £4.00
Smirnoff & Diet Cola (250ml) - £4.00

Probably 329ml of cola and 1ml of JD...

[oldpoer]

Just received email from P&O stating the idea of mini bars in cabins is being looked at for all the fleet and until any decision is made it is still possible to purchase 750 ml bottles of spirits from in cabin services for consumption in cabin

[johnds]

On Arcadia recently Harding Bros were selling Gordons Gin 1ltr "duty free" for £15.00p. This was only to take home

Yesterday Tesco were selling Gordons Gin 1ltr for the same £15.00p. Of course Tesco will have to pay £2.50p VAT out of that and full duty, whilst Harding Bros will pay nothing.

How can that be described as "Duty Free" I presume that the Trade Descriptions act doesn't apply at sea.

[Whynd1]

When we were on Arcadia in July 2 litres of spirits were £20 minus loyalty discount of 10%. That included Beefeaters. A bargain at £9 a litre.
Last November a litr of Gordons in Gibraltar was £7.

Lindsey

[david63]

The discounts were not particularly good a few weeks ago on Azura - not worth the effort of carrying it home.