Drinks Package

[Captain Cabin]

Booked Arcadia 46 night cruise Southampton to Sydney on 6 Jan 2024.

Are the pre paid drinks packages worth paying for? Are soft drinks, teas and coffee included in the “full board” statement? Do you have to pay for water?

Appreciate any advice on the above?

[david63]

Are the pre paid drinks packages worth paying for?

That will be dependant on your drinking habits, which only you know. Bearing in mind that all passengers in a cabin have to have the drinks package and the length of the cruise I would be inclined to say that it is not good value. Bear in mind that on port days, of which I suspect there will be many, that you will be off the ship therefore not able to take advantage of your drinks package. Many seasoned cruisers with P&O do not consider P&O's drinks package to be good value.

Are soft drinks, teas and coffee included in the “full board” statement?

Tea and coffee in the dining rooms/buffet are included - but not speciality coffees. Whilst there is orange and other juices available in the buffet during breakfast soft drinks at other times are chargeable.

Do you have to pay for water?

Bottled - yes.

[Stephen]

Welcome to the forum Captain Cabin

[towny44]

Do you have to pay for water?

Bottled - yes.
[/quote]

P&O only sell it in cans now, and they are expensive. If you dont like the water from the bathroom, then the best thing is to keep topping up your supply when in port.

[Stephen]

It has been know for what top up’s to be done in the scrum buffet restaurant

[Onelife]

When using bathroom water just add a slurp of Orange/Ribena cordial to the bottle, stick it in the fridge…you won’t notice the difference.

[Ray B]

I am getting to the point where a cup of tea hits the spot.

[Mervyn and Trish]

When using bathroom water just add a slurp of Orange/Ribena cordial to the bottle, stick it in the fridge…you won’t notice the difference.

We just stick it in the fridge for 24 hours without any additives. By then any slight chemical twang from the purification has gone.

[david63]

When using bathroom water

I hope you are referring to potable water

[Mervyn and Trish]

As passed by the management.....

[Stephen]

and everyone else.

[Onelife]

When using bathroom water

I hope you are referring to potable water

I think you're taking the P*ss

[towny44]

When using bathroom water just add a slurp of Orange/Ribena cordial to the bottle, stick it in the fridge…you won’t notice the difference.

We just stick it in the fridge for 24 hours without any additives. By then any slight chemical twang from the purification has gone.

.....and the water for sale on board is now tinned, and has a tinny taste, according to some people. We refill our own plastic bottles from the wash basin tap, and have never noticed any funny taste afte itr has been in the fridge overnight.

[Onelife]

When using bathroom water just add a slurp of Orange/Ribena cordial to the bottle, stick it in the fridge…you won’t notice the difference.

We just stick it in the fridge for 24 hours without any additives. By then any slight chemical twang from the purification has gone.

.....and the water for sale on board is now tinned, and has a tinny taste, according to some people. We refill our own plastic bottles from the wash basin tap, and have never noticed any funny taste afte itr has been in the fridge overnight.

HI John, it must be ten years since we last cruised but I’m pleased to hear my complaints were taken onboard.

[barney]

Drinks package seems to have overtaken the 'Dress Code' as the number one topic on cruising.

In my opinion, it all depends on your drinking habits.
For some it will be good value.
For others, they will not get their monies worth.
For others again, they will drink much more than than normally would, to get their monies worth.

It's probably quite easy to cost it out and see if it's individually worth it for you.

We don't bother , basically because Mrs Barney drinks very little in the way of alcohol.
I rarely drink during the day, but like a few in the evening.

One thing that I did notice when on Azura recently was the amount of daytime drinking by people of the drinks package.
Some people in front of us up on deck on a sunny day must have put away about ten bottles of Corona each while sun bathing.
That cannot be good for anybody.

So, back to the original question !
Is it worth it ?
Holiday companies rarely offer products simply for the benefit of customers.
They offer it to make additional profit.
You decide .

[Stephen]

https://www.pocruises.com/onboard-activ ... nd-lounges

[Mervyn and Trish]

Your penultimate line says it all Barney.

And yes when we were last on Azura there were bleary eyed people wandering about aimlessly at 10am with a pint in hand as they made sure they got their money's worth.

[barney]

I've just worked out the drinks package cost on our next 15 nights on Azura.
For the most expensive one, which I would want for premium drinks, it would cost us £1,650.
I'll wager that out total spend will be nowhere near that, including speciality restaurants and a few trips.
We've got £950 OBC including SH benefit and I'd hope that would pretty much cover it if I can keep Mrs B out of the Spa.

[Stephen]

Buy it or don’t buy it, the choice is yours at the end of the day.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Just don't rely on me to pay for it......

[Onelife]

Buy it or don’t buy it, the choice is yours at the end of the day.

Something Foxy has told me that you have down to a tee

[Stephen]

Just don't rely on me to pay for it......

Nor me, especially as I don't drink much these days.

[oldbluefox]

Unless all those in your cabin are devoted drinkers it's just not worth it. Neither of us are good drinkers so we would be well out of pocket and I'm not going to even attempt to get my money's worth. I'm very happy to pay as we go and enjoy a drink as and when we fancy one. It all depends how much you drink.

Does anybody know if they are still doing the Costa coffee cards? That's the limit for us!! Sad eh?

[paultheagle]

I'll have the non alcohol package - looks good.

[oldbluefox]

Even the non alcohol package, after my adventures I'd be dashing off to the loo every half hour
Not sure between us we could drink that much. I feel sure P&O will have figured that out when setting the price.