That was very interesting and useful as my wife and I are going on our first cruise in 10 years, to the Caribbean in February. Based on our drinking habits we will definitely go 'pay as you go'. Truthfully, you would have to be a bit of an alcoholic to drink more than £44 of alcohol per person per day on the classic drinks package.....Or... as you mentioned, have very expensive drink habits for each drink consumed. I think what won it over for us was not only would we not drink that much each day, but we will be drinking on the islands on the port days as well.
An exceptionally informative review of this confusing aspect of cruise holidays. Thank you for a clear and easy to understand video. Will help me decide what we need when on Iona ( Ffords) at the end of April for our second ever cruise holiday. Your videos have been a brilliant help ( and eagerly anticipated )as we have embarked our cruising holiday newbies journey. As a newly ex teacher myself-learning to relax- I’m embracing this next stage of life and wish you both well as you begin your non-teaching journey too. Happy travels 🥰
Hi. Have always made use of drinks packages. On the last two cruises on P&O they gave me a free deluxe package, Which I gratefully appreciated. The package included wine by the glass up to the value of £16 per glass in certain venues, MDR Anderson and Crows nest. Tasted even better being free. Great video 👍
Great voiceover Maffoo - very informative. We'll definitely be sticking with PAYG as I don't drink alcohol but my hubby does so isn't worth it for us 😊🥂 x
That’s answered quite a few questions I had. We are going on our first cruise at the end of April. We have bought the classic drinks package but would definitely work out the costings if we go for another cruise ❤
Great information once again Jamie. Not sure if you know, but there was a very professional voiceover during this video😊. So well described, go Maffoo 👏
Lovely to hear Maffoo’s dulcet tones ❤️ I don’t usually get the package but got the 20% discount for our Aurora cruise so will give it a go. I will probably just break even but even a £1 over is a result 👍🍷🥃
We are going on our first cruise this year we booked the Ultimate drinks package when we booked the cruise. It’s now the Deluxe package. I think for us we won’t break even but equally it’s nice knowing we can have a few pints or cocktails and not get a scary bill at the end. Taking two kids has saved us 25% on our drinks package too. Great video as always Jamie.
Thanks Jamie and Maffoo very informative, we are going to Fjords in September with family and bought the deluxe drinks package with 20% off classic and then 10% off with Peninsular club so it’s worked out well for us, we all like a good cocktail or three 🤪 it’s the first time we have had a drinks package so will be interesting to see how we do x
Thanks Maffoo & Jamie for the concise information on the drinks packages. We are from the US, and will be sailing with P&O for the first time at the end of May. (7 night/Britannia/Norway). I think we will be pay as you go, especially since we can carry on 1 Liter each.
@@TravelBlogJamie oh dear....I have watched this 3 or 4 times, and decided to book the drinks package. We are on Britannia headed to Norway on May 30th; and figure, if we add in the coffee, and bottle water etc, it will all balance out. Dear husband hates to know what things cost, so when we see you on the QM2 in June 2024, please don't tell him. I'll owe you a drink! Really; many thanks to both of you for how clearly you share the menu prices etc. Your videos are absolutely fantastic and have helped me with hotel decisions in Smelly ol' Southampton as well!!
We've bought the Classic Package for our cruise so will see how that pans out. Will keep a tally of drink consumed and then look to see if it was better to buy as we go.
Thanks for the info, I don't drink so I will be only drinking soft drinks and coffee, I did discuss this with my sister as we're on a 21 day cruise so I think I will go with the flow so to speak.❤
Morning Jamie and mafoo !! X lve done over forty cruises and never yet bought a drinks package they always seem such a faff to me as typically l would always want what’s not included😂 as a rule my husband and l take on our bottle each and have pre drinks in cabin and then just have whatever we fancy while we are out which works for us , very informative video tho xxx
Random question but would you say if P&O are your go to that msc virtuosa would compare favourably or not, this would not be yacht club just standard ? Thank you x
@@janebunn6846 I don’t think I can answer that as I don’t have a ‘go to’ to compare it with and I’m not sure what you most like in a cruise. I’d definitely suggest going out of school hols, whatever your decision.
We bought the 12 bottle wine package for £250 on our last cruise and did PAYG for all other drinks. Hardly see the wine packages mentioned on any vlogs and it's such a good option if you are a wine with dinner kind of couple! Some of the wines were £30 a bottle!
Thanks for the in-depth look at the prices. I had a drinks package last year on my transatlantic cruise, I wrote all my drinks and prices down to see if it was worth it. This was before they changed the packages. It was worth it on the sea days, which there was many, but as soon as I got to the Caribbean and off the ship, I just about broke even as a whole. I’d like to see if it’s worth it on Cunard now as the drinks are mega expensive, plus the service charge.
Great video Jamie. Only recently found your channel and loving the content! Must say, even as someone who enjoys a drink (or three), especially on holiday, I just don’t see the value of the drinks packages personally. I just wouldn’t drink that much. Whilst I might have 7-8 drinks one day, I could go the next two with only a couple of drinks.
Don't see a problem, to be honest. We're clocking up our 40th cruise this year, and I think we've only taken booze on board once. We much prefer to drink in a bar - we may take a drink back to the cabin but generally, we go back, get ready and go out again for dinner. We always have a deluxe drinks package on P&O as it gives us a greater choice. We costed the packages carefully when they first came out- we usually offset our OBC against the cost so it works well for us. In terms of drink prices, I think P&O are reasonable compared to what I would expect to pay in a London pub. With anything like this it will anger some people but others - like us - don't care. That's the great thing that we're all different. We have seen some cutbacks on P&O, of course, but I could list loads of businesses that we deal with that have also cut back on things. It's a fact of life. We've been with other cruise lines and they all have good and bad points, but we love cruising, and we'll still go with P&O. Wherever you're going folks, have a great time - happy cruising.
Thanks for this. It was really informative. However, I have read that you can no longer take a litre of spirits on board. Just wine or beer. Is this correct. It was great to see the Crow's Nest menu and see which cocktails were included in the Deluxe package.
Getting lots of hints from your channel. I'm travelling on Fred Olsen's Bolette and going to do a vlog on their drinks package. I've only done drinks packages on the larger cruise lines so very interested to see what theirs is like. I've watched your series on the Borealis and I think Bolette will be very similar. Wish me luck on my first Cruise Vlog series. Hope I'm as good as you :)
I have just look at Fred's drink package and for house wine, house spirits, cocktail of the day is £24.95 so is cheaper than P&O. Was really lucky on one of our Fred Olsen's cruise, it was buy one drinks package and get the second free, what's not to like. Our last cruise with Fred Olsen there were no offers on the drinks package so we just went for pay as you go, we didn't go without but it did make as think before drinking. I am on the Iona in August and I am NOT getting a drinks package, will take a litre of bubbly to have in the cabin and have a glass or two in the evening, with the odd cocktail. No drink's package is good for the liver, waist line and pocket, 😄😇
Thank you Jamie and Maffoo. Very clear re: drinks packages. Confirms my decision to stick with PAYG. I booked a cruise for October with the 20% discount on offer. So tempting but wouldn’t suit my needs. I find bringing a bottle of wine or spirit and purchasing welcome on board package suits me for an extra bottle of champers in cabin/flowers and chocolates suits me as deluxe cabin not worth it for a solo passenger. I have my own P&O robe.
Hi Jamie & Maffoo, great information there. We are sailing Iona next June so this is really helpful for deciding which drinks package will suit us. P&O packages soooo much cheaper than RC Icon of the Seas! We are sailing this ship in September 😅
@@TravelBlogJamie We are flat refusing to pay for all the up charges. We will go alcohol free for this trip 🤣 We might actually get up early instead and enjoy the empty ship instead, great for making my videos 🎥☺️
I bought the deluxe, my logic was a few pints during the day, few at night, a nice wine with my meal and lots of coffee from vistas and I should be breaking even and don’t have to worry about a huge bill at the end.
Hi Jamie. I love your vlogs and they are the 1st ones I look for 😊 I think you didn't quite make it clear that yes it's 15 alcoholic drinks max a day but with both the highest drinks packages it's also unlimited soft drinks, cocktails, Costa Coffee ....definitely in the Deluxe package.. If you add all these up as well as you're alcoholic drinks, we think it's more than good value 😉 👌 We are team Deluxe drinks package 😎 ☕️🫖🍷🍸🍹🍺🍻🥃🥤🍵 Great vlog, though, and a special shout out to Mafooo 👌
@@TravelBlogJamie he hates caramel so that one is a definite no. We don’t normally have a package but we are going to try it this time. Also costa iced latte so when the ship start processing their own water and it gets that funny chemical taste when I start removing the ice cubes from drinks 👅 does the iced latte from Costa have that taste? Sorry for random question. 😂
Great info. Got the spreadsheet to do our calculations, each works out the same give or take a few Quid. You mention that you get 10% off the package if bought 3 days before sailing. 10% off is also available at time of booking so what's the point of paying then when you can wait till 3 days before?
Thanks guys, that's very informative. Is there a PDF copy of the menu/prices that is shown? I am looking to see if getting a drinks package will make sense for me and my friends when we take our cruise on Britannia.
This is where comparing cruises is so complicated. I’ve been on more luxury lines with drinks and other items included, they seem expensive but looking the cost per day of the top package (and the amount that they don’t include!) some of them aren’t as expensive as you first think. I personally object to paying the high extras that some charge for speciality dining - I’ve already paid for food on board for the night I go to another restaurant which now isn’t eaten - I’m paying twice!! I always get a feeling that P&O has so much more on board that has to be paid for on top. Obviously it’s personal choice and all lines differ. Wouldn’t it be easy if you could tick options and do a GoCompare type of search of cruises?
In fairness to P&O's pricing, Sindhu was about a tenner per person, and Epicurean was about thirty quid when I travelled. Both of those are just a minor surcharge compared to the quality of the menu and I still found both to be very good value for money. The per-dish restaurant surcharges were a different matter. Those dining experiences could be free, but once you started paying for individual dishes they could mount up pretty quickly. That surcharge was still usually cheaper than what you'd pay on land, but of course you're still paying the "invisible" price of an MDR meal on top of that.
On the menus, do the refresh drinks package only include Pepsi and whites lemonade for the kids? As say j20 or Coca Cola has the A,C,D Symbols. Great video by the way really helped us out.
@@TravelBlogJamie we have the classic drinks package and refill for the kids, would we be allowed to get say the kids a j20 and give it to the kids if they wanted it? Or would that not be allowed.
nice videos sir - so ultra discreet boarding with gifts is key // makes sense they are a business I suppose - appreciate reply --- thinking cunard next year short 3 day if can find correct fare etc.. will follow vids ..
It depends on the ports visited. For most of our P&O cruises in Europe the ship only does the card check when reboarding. This means the scanning checks are done by the port authorities and they don't care how much alcohol you take on board. So if they are not scamming bags in the ship when you get off, you take back on as much as you want.
Drinks packages only work if you are going to drink over 7 alcoholic drinks a day. Water / Juice / Tea and Coffee are free from the buffet. Plus you can take on your own soft drinks as many as you and you can take a bottle of spirits or wine each onboard. 2 week cruise for 2 - classic drink package will cost you £1500. Our bar bill last cruise was £300. No brainer unless you want to get drunk every night…😂
To be "worth" it then you'd be pissed 24/7. We've just had 2 weeks in the IONA, we didn't hold back and enjoyed ourselves, l'd guess we had 3 beers each & shared a bottle of wine or had a cocktail each evening. At the cruise end our alcohol bill (including 6 enhanced rate meals) was about 50% of the drinks package price! Ooh, l forgot, on every port day we'd bring back a bottle of wine, our bags were never checked, never saw anybody else's bags checked either....
I think it's down to personal choice really. We always have a deluxe drinks package but we drink more than what you've outlined for yourselves. It works for us but we're not pissed 24/7.
PAYG definitely for me. Great breakdown on everyone in intricate detail btw. We were on Iona just after the prices went up (saw you on board) and I like a few beers a day and MrsT likes a Pina Colada and a some gins on PAYG and worked out at the end of the week we were around £300 better off that way. Not at any point we we're watching what we drank too, we enjoyed ourselves without worry. The thing that's worth taking into consideration too is port days. You're out all day in said city, are you really gonna get back to the ship just to neck down the drink to get your money's worth? I spoke to a chap on the Iona who was with a larger group of friends and said how one of his friends had a few too many and missed out on Olden as he was nursing a hangover. I imagine he was trying to get his money's worth.
We are similar to you and maffoo as we don't drink enough to make it worth while. Do you get your loyalty discount on the package ? Have a great weekend ❤️🎉
Team non-alcoholic drinks package here, we drink a lot of non-alcoholic drinks but not many alcoholic drinks and when we do have alcoholic drinks we'd rather pay for exactly what we want (including bottles of wine and more expensive cocktails) then be limited by a package. I still can't for the life of me understand why frappes and fruit coolers are only included on the deluxe package though... Last I checked the blenders don't add any alcohol 🤔
I guess I understand the reasoning, but if you were on a cruise with a friend and they wanted the Deluxe Package because they enjoyed their fine spirits and such but you didn't drink alcohol, it could cause some conflict if you both need to have the same package. I wouldn't want to be forced to either not have the package I personally wanted or to be made to pay for something I'm not going to use. There must be a better system than that, surely.
We have just (literally) disembarked from Iona after a fabulous week to Norway. The four of us drank what we wanted, when we wanted and spent less than £150 on alcohol. To think that if we'd had an alcohol package, it would have cost us over a grand! I know everyone is different and has different likes and tastes but that's an insane amount of money for four adults to spend on drinks for a week.
Jamie, the issue is P and O are out to make money from these drinks, it is a wonder how on an all inclusive holiday they can include drinks, I know you actually are paying for then in the original cost, but not by huge amounts, once on that holiday it is lovely to just have a nice coffee or a alcholic drink and not be paying extra every time...All in the mind, but, it is a "nice" thing to not think about paying...My biggest gripe is with the coffee's in Costa, this should just be a nice thing they offer not money grabbing! coffee is so cheap to make..i think, maybe charge a bit more on the cruise and include drinks, maybe restrict to a couple with each meal on the alcohol, most people aren't binge drinkers...Oh and what happened to duty free prices? they shouldn't be charging premium pub/restaurant prices grrrr.. I'm with you PAYG as I am not a alcohol BOOZER 😉It clearly is a thing though, this paying for extra things on board as it is always coming up to be talked about...
@@julieann3290 ok so in the vlog it shows all prices of all drinks if you don’t have a drinks package (drinks package meaning alcoholic ones and non alcoholic)
P&O seem to want to take your money for the U-D-Package and go out of there way not to give you any drinks. Everything is excluded even at £60 P.P.P.D.
I’ve got the soft drink package for me and my daughter and I’ve got £75 discount because I’ve already paid for it and it’s my second time on Alia if I get £75 discount on all my drinks and the Internet if you
Jamie, will you be updating this thread again now that you are not able to take more than a bottle of wine each? I know how you and Maffoo like a drinking poo’s while getting ready, I guess you will just have that instead of your usual Vodka.
Made by Maffoo! Part voice over by Maffoo! Well done Maffoo!
Really appreciate all the effort this took. Well done!
❤ Thanks Jamie & Maffoo, we will definitely got payg. Thank you for always going that bit further and telling us everything xx
Always welcome 🙏
That was very interesting and useful as my wife and I are going on our first cruise in 10 years, to the Caribbean in February. Based on our drinking habits we will definitely go 'pay as you go'.
Truthfully, you would have to be a bit of an alcoholic to drink more than £44 of alcohol per person per day on the classic drinks package.....Or... as you mentioned, have very expensive drink habits for each drink consumed.
I think what won it over for us was not only would we not drink that much each day, but we will be drinking on the islands on the port days as well.
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An exceptionally informative review of this confusing aspect of cruise holidays. Thank you for a clear and easy to understand video. Will help me decide what we need when on Iona ( Ffords) at the end of April for our second ever cruise holiday. Your videos have been a brilliant help ( and eagerly anticipated )as we have embarked our cruising holiday newbies journey. As a newly ex teacher myself-learning to relax- I’m embracing this next stage of life and wish you both well as you begin your non-teaching journey too. Happy travels 🥰
Thank you so much for this lovely feedback and your kindness - wishing you well too
Thank you both, clear and very informative - it will be PAYG for us now!
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Thank you so much, very useful! 🙏🏻
Welcome 🙏
Hi. Have always made use of drinks packages. On the last two cruises on P&O they gave me a free deluxe package, Which I gratefully appreciated. The package included wine by the glass up to the value of £16 per glass in certain venues, MDR Anderson and Crows nest. Tasted even better being free. Great video 👍
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Great voiceover Maffoo - very informative. We'll definitely be sticking with PAYG as I don't drink alcohol but my hubby does so isn't worth it for us 😊🥂 x
Absolutely doesn’t sound worth it for you! It’s not for us at the moment either
Thank you Jamie and Maffoo, you've been most helpul. Our first ever cruise is in June to the Fyords. Your videos are very informative and fun..
Thank you so much and enjoy your cruise
That’s answered quite a few questions I had. We are going on our first cruise at the end of April. We have bought the classic drinks package but would definitely work out the costings if we go for another cruise ❤
Enjoy your cruise
I think we are going on the same cruise… not long left now, can’t wait
Great information once again Jamie. Not sure if you know, but there was a very professional voiceover during this video😊. So well described, go Maffoo 👏
Lol 😆
Lovely to hear Maffoo’s dulcet tones ❤️ I don’t usually get the package but got the 20% discount for our Aurora cruise so will give it a go. I will probably just break even but even a £1 over is a result 👍🍷🥃
20% off really is a good deal
We are going on our first cruise this year we booked the Ultimate drinks package when we booked the cruise. It’s now the Deluxe package. I think for us we won’t break even but equally it’s nice knowing we can have a few pints or cocktails and not get a scary bill at the end. Taking two kids has saved us 25% on our drinks package too. Great video as always Jamie.
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Thank you for showing the latest charges . We have decided to go deluxe this time as we like to have the coffees and alcohol included in the price .
I hope you enjoy
Thanks Jamie and Maffoo very informative, we are going to Fjords in September with family and bought the deluxe drinks package with 20%
off classic and then 10% off with Peninsular club so it’s worked out well for us, we all like a good cocktail or three 🤪 it’s the first time we have had a drinks package so will be interesting to see how we do x
Enjoy 😊
Thanks Maffoo & Jamie for the concise information on the drinks packages. We are from the US, and will be sailing with P&O for the first time at the end of May. (7 night/Britannia/Norway). I think we will be pay as you go, especially since we can carry on 1 Liter each.
Same as us!
@@TravelBlogJamie oh dear....I have watched this 3 or 4 times, and decided to book the drinks package. We are on Britannia headed to Norway on May 30th; and figure, if we add in the coffee, and bottle water etc, it will all balance out. Dear husband hates to know what things cost, so when we see you on the QM2 in June 2024, please don't tell him. I'll owe you a drink! Really; many thanks to both of you for how clearly you share the menu prices etc. Your videos are absolutely fantastic and have helped me with hotel decisions in Smelly ol' Southampton as well!!
We've bought the Classic Package for our cruise so will see how that pans out. Will keep a tally of drink consumed and then look to see if it was better to buy as we go.
Sensible idea
Thanks for the info, I don't drink so I will be only drinking soft drinks and coffee, I did discuss this with my sister as we're on a 21 day cruise so I think I will go with the flow so to speak.❤
I think that’ll work perfectly
Thanks Mafoo and Jamie! We're pretty set on PAYG and will buy a wine package as we do like a glass of vino with dinner.
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Brilliant video. Very clear and helpful. Thank you. 😊
Thank you 🙏
Morning Jamie and mafoo !! X lve done over forty cruises and never yet bought a drinks package they always seem such a faff to me as typically l would always want what’s not included😂 as a rule my husband and l take on our bottle each and have pre drinks in cabin and then just have whatever we fancy while we are out which works for us , very informative video tho xxx
We haven’t needed one on P&O yet either! Thanks for your kind feedback
Random question but would you say if P&O are your go to that msc virtuosa would compare favourably or not, this would not be yacht club just standard ? Thank you x
@@janebunn6846 I don’t think I can answer that as I don’t have a ‘go to’ to compare it with and I’m not sure what you most like in a cruise. I’d definitely suggest going out of school hols, whatever your decision.
We bought the 12 bottle wine package for £250 on our last cruise and did PAYG for all other drinks. Hardly see the wine packages mentioned on any vlogs and it's such a good option if you are a wine with dinner kind of couple! Some of the wines were £30 a bottle!
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Thanks for the in-depth look at the prices. I had a drinks package last year on my transatlantic cruise, I wrote all my drinks and prices down to see if it was worth it. This was before they changed the packages. It was worth it on the sea days, which there was many, but as soon as I got to the Caribbean and off the ship, I just about broke even as a whole. I’d like to see if it’s worth it on Cunard now as the drinks are mega expensive, plus the service charge.
Oh yes Cunard are a bit more £££ aren’t they: I need to think about this for my TA in June
Great video Jamie. Only recently found your channel and loving the content! Must say, even as someone who enjoys a drink (or three), especially on holiday, I just don’t see the value of the drinks packages personally. I just wouldn’t drink that much. Whilst I might have 7-8 drinks one day, I could go the next two with only a couple of drinks.
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Thanx both :) lovely to hear Maffoo too! Xnx
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Don't see a problem, to be honest. We're clocking up our 40th cruise this year, and I think we've only taken booze on board once. We much prefer to drink in a bar - we may take a drink back to the cabin but generally, we go back, get ready and go out again for dinner. We always have a deluxe drinks package on P&O as it gives us a greater choice. We costed the packages carefully when they first came out- we usually offset our OBC against the cost so it works well for us. In terms of drink prices, I think P&O are reasonable compared to what I would expect to pay in a London pub. With anything like this it will anger some people but others - like us - don't care. That's the great thing that we're all different. We have seen some cutbacks on P&O, of course, but I could list loads of businesses that we deal with that have also cut back on things. It's a fact of life. We've been with other cruise lines and they all have good and bad points, but we love cruising, and we'll still go with P&O. Wherever you're going folks, have a great time - happy cruising.
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Thank you, Maffoo and Jamie for the info, x
Very welcome 🙏
Thanks for this. It was really informative. However, I have read that you can no longer take a litre of spirits on board. Just wine or beer. Is this correct. It was great to see the Crow's Nest menu and see which cocktails were included in the Deluxe package.
If you watch the follow up vlog I talk about what the new rules are (just search travel blog Jamie P&O drinks policy) 🙏🙏🙏
Ps you are correct, no more spirits (although I know some people still take it on)
Hi Jamie thank you for the information a drinks package would be wasted on me lol best to payg nice to hear maffoos voice 😄
Thank you 🙏
Getting lots of hints from your channel. I'm travelling on Fred Olsen's Bolette and going to do a vlog on their drinks package. I've only done drinks packages on the larger cruise lines so very interested to see what theirs is like. I've watched your series on the Borealis and I think Bolette will be very similar. Wish me luck on my first Cruise Vlog series. Hope I'm as good as you :)
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You’ll be fine and dandy!
I have just look at Fred's drink package and for house wine, house spirits, cocktail of the day is £24.95 so is cheaper than P&O. Was really lucky on one of our Fred Olsen's cruise, it was buy one drinks package and get the second free, what's not to like. Our last cruise with Fred Olsen there were no offers on the drinks package so we just went for pay as you go, we didn't go without but it did make as think before drinking. I am on the Iona in August and I am NOT getting a drinks package, will take a litre of bubbly to have in the cabin and have a glass or two in the evening, with the odd cocktail. No drink's package is good for the liver, waist line and pocket, 😄😇
@sharonrout8165 The price is brilliant in comparison to the other lines isn't it. May make for an interesting Vlog series haha
Thank you Jamie and Maffoo. Very clear re: drinks packages. Confirms my decision to stick with PAYG. I booked a cruise for October with the 20% discount on offer. So tempting but wouldn’t suit my needs. I find bringing a bottle of wine or spirit and purchasing welcome on board package suits me for an extra bottle of champers in cabin/flowers and chocolates suits me as deluxe cabin not worth it for a solo passenger. I have my own P&O robe.
It also isn’t something we’d benefit from at the moment either
Very well explained, well done to both of you for taking the time to put this together, it must of taken ages to do 😊🍻🥂🍾🍷🧋🍸🍹
It took some time, yes lol 😆
Hi Jamie & Maffoo, great information there. We are sailing Iona next June so this is really helpful for deciding which drinks package will suit us. P&O packages soooo much cheaper than RC Icon of the Seas! We are sailing this ship in September 😅
RCI packages are sooooo expensive and so are the drinks if you pay as you go
@@TravelBlogJamie yep, insane prices on RCI in general on everything 😬
@@holidayhev that’s what I’ve seen too but people paying it?
@@TravelBlogJamie We are flat refusing to pay for all the up charges. We will go alcohol free for this trip 🤣 We might actually get up early instead and enjoy the empty ship instead, great for making my videos 🎥☺️
what a lovely voice maffoo has well done jamie, definately be a pay as you go couple
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I bought the deluxe, my logic was a few pints during the day, few at night, a nice wine with my meal and lots of coffee from vistas and I should be breaking even and don’t have to worry about a huge bill at the end.
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We do the same and it works much better for us than PAYG.
Hi Jamie. I love your vlogs and they are the 1st ones I look for 😊
I think you didn't quite make it clear that yes it's 15 alcoholic drinks max a day but with both the highest drinks packages it's also unlimited soft drinks, cocktails, Costa Coffee ....definitely in the Deluxe package.. If you add all these up as well as you're alcoholic drinks, we think it's more than good value 😉 👌
We are team Deluxe drinks package 😎
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Great vlog, though, and a special shout out to Mafooo 👌
* mocktails I meant!
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Very helpful thank you ❤
Welcome 🙏
Thanks for the updated information- just one question on Arvia can you get a normal Expresso Martini anywhere? 😳
Unfortunately no 😩
@@TravelBlogJamie oh no - I’m not going to tell my other half that information until we are onboard 😳
@@LottieGuy-c1e it annoys me as it’s easy to make
@@TravelBlogJamie he hates caramel so that one is a definite no.
We don’t normally have a package but we are going to try it this time.
Also costa iced latte so when the ship start processing their own water and it gets that funny chemical taste when I start removing the ice cubes from drinks 👅 does the iced latte from Costa have that taste? Sorry for random question. 😂
@@LottieGuy-c1e I don’t recall that taste tbh
Great info. Got the spreadsheet to do our calculations, each works out the same give or take a few Quid. You mention that you get 10% off the package if bought 3 days before sailing. 10% off is also available at time of booking so what's the point of paying then when you can wait till 3 days before?
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Thanks guys, that's very informative. Is there a PDF copy of the menu/prices that is shown? I am looking to see if getting a drinks package will make sense for me and my friends when we take our cruise on Britannia.
Sorry I don’t have a pdf of the menus onboard!
@@TravelBlogJamie No problem. Thanks for replying, and for the video, it's extremely useful and informative.
Very informative presentation! Maffoo doing a good bit of it was a special treat! Thank you 😍
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Thanks for this…..Think I’ll stick to ‘Pay as you Go’ 🍷 🍺 👍
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This is where comparing cruises is so complicated. I’ve been on more luxury lines with drinks and other items included, they seem expensive but looking the cost per day of the top package (and the amount that they don’t include!) some of them aren’t as expensive as you first think. I personally object to paying the high extras that some charge for speciality dining - I’ve already paid for food on board for the night I go to another restaurant which now isn’t eaten - I’m paying twice!! I always get a feeling that P&O has so much more on board that has to be paid for on top. Obviously it’s personal choice and all lines differ. Wouldn’t it be easy if you could tick options and do a GoCompare type of search of cruises?
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In fairness to P&O's pricing, Sindhu was about a tenner per person, and Epicurean was about thirty quid when I travelled. Both of those are just a minor surcharge compared to the quality of the menu and I still found both to be very good value for money. The per-dish restaurant surcharges were a different matter. Those dining experiences could be free, but once you started paying for individual dishes they could mount up pretty quickly. That surcharge was still usually cheaper than what you'd pay on land, but of course you're still paying the "invisible" price of an MDR meal on top of that.
Hi when you first board the ship can you take a bottle of martini on board or is that classed as spirit's
It’s now just wine or bubbles
Thanks Maffoo ❤
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On the menus, do the refresh drinks package only include Pepsi and whites lemonade for the kids? As say j20 or Coca Cola has the A,C,D Symbols.
Great video by the way really helped us out.
Correct - just the basic sodas
@@TravelBlogJamie we have the classic drinks package and refill for the kids, would we be allowed to get say the kids a j20 and give it to the kids if they wanted it? Or would that not be allowed.
@@Hankercheif ‘officially’ not allowed to gift drinks from drinks package (but…)
@@TravelBlogJamie haha advice heard
Refresh package is now £12.95pppd and no 10% discount if booked in advance, at £9.95 we would have gone for it but not at £12.95!
Their prices rise and rise and rise
if you are in a foreign port are there strict rules about bringing drinks / etc onto ship does it vary with cruise or is it standard
There are rules when it isn’t your port of departure on P&O - they say they’ll keep it until the end of your cruise (but that doesn’t always happen!)
nice videos sir - so ultra discreet boarding with gifts is key // makes sense they are a business I suppose - appreciate reply --- thinking cunard next year short 3 day if can find correct fare etc.. will follow vids ..
It depends on the ports visited. For most of our P&O cruises in Europe the ship only does the card check when reboarding. This means the scanning checks are done by the port authorities and they don't care how much alcohol you take on board. So if they are not scamming bags in the ship when you get off, you take back on as much as you want.
Jamie - thanks for this, although I note that you had a bottle of spirit in your cabin fridge, so this info is now out of date as of May 2024.
Yes I’ve already done another vlog about this
@@TravelBlogJamie thank you
Drinks packages only work if you are going to drink over 7 alcoholic drinks a day. Water / Juice / Tea and Coffee are free from the buffet. Plus you can take on your own soft drinks as many as you and you can take a bottle of spirits or wine each onboard. 2 week cruise for 2 - classic drink package will cost you £1500. Our bar bill last cruise was £300. No brainer unless you want to get drunk every night…😂
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Hello to u both lovely people we injoy watcher u
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We are team pay as you go 🎉
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If a spirit is £7.50 and you want a mixer with it, does this mean you exceed the drink limit (classic package) and so have to pay the whole amount? 🤔
No, only alcohol is limited
@@TravelBlogJamie Thanks Jamie 🥰
Definitely team deluxe drinks package.
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We are only on a 4 night cruise , does this mean we are not allowed to buy a drinks package?
Correct
To be "worth" it then you'd be pissed 24/7. We've just had 2 weeks in the IONA, we didn't hold back and enjoyed ourselves, l'd guess we had 3 beers each & shared a bottle of wine or had a cocktail each evening. At the cruise end our alcohol bill (including 6 enhanced rate meals) was about 50% of the drinks package price!
Ooh, l forgot, on every port day we'd bring back a bottle of wine, our bags were never checked, never saw anybody else's bags checked either....
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I think it's down to personal choice really. We always have a deluxe drinks package but we drink more than what you've outlined for yourselves. It works for us but we're not pissed 24/7.
PAYG definitely for me.
Great breakdown on everyone in intricate detail btw.
We were on Iona just after the prices went up (saw you on board) and I like a few beers a day and MrsT likes a Pina Colada and a some gins on PAYG and worked out at the end of the week we were around £300 better off that way.
Not at any point we we're watching what we drank too, we enjoyed ourselves without worry.
The thing that's worth taking into consideration too is port days. You're out all day in said city, are you really gonna get back to the ship just to neck down the drink to get your money's worth?
I spoke to a chap on the Iona who was with a larger group of friends and said how one of his friends had a few too many and missed out on Olden as he was nursing a hangover. I imagine he was trying to get his money's worth.
Thanks for your info / feedback Mark
We are similar to you and maffoo as we don't drink enough to make it worth while.
Do you get your loyalty discount on the package ?
Have a great weekend ❤️🎉
You do, but not if there’s a deal on
Team non-alcoholic drinks package here, we drink a lot of non-alcoholic drinks but not many alcoholic drinks and when we do have alcoholic drinks we'd rather pay for exactly what we want (including bottles of wine and more expensive cocktails) then be limited by a package.
I still can't for the life of me understand why frappes and fruit coolers are only included on the deluxe package though... Last I checked the blenders don't add any alcohol 🤔
Yeh I find that very odd as well
Classic drinks package for us. A beer, wine and 2 coke's would cost over 20 quid I'd imagine I'll have the 15 a day so we'll be quids in
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I guess I understand the reasoning, but if you were on a cruise with a friend and they wanted the Deluxe Package because they enjoyed their fine spirits and such but you didn't drink alcohol, it could cause some conflict if you both need to have the same package. I wouldn't want to be forced to either not have the package I personally wanted or to be made to pay for something I'm not going to use. There must be a better system than that, surely.
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Pay as you go, unless you really really like your drink, that includes the coffee one.
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We have just (literally) disembarked from Iona after a fabulous week to Norway. The four of us drank what we wanted, when we wanted and spent less than £150 on alcohol.
To think that if we'd had an alcohol package, it would have cost us over a grand!
I know everyone is different and has different likes and tastes but that's an insane amount of money for four adults to spend on drinks for a week.
And yet it’s nowhere near as expensive as many other cruise lines
Thank you an excellent overview,…..it’s a no from us…the Princess packages are far better…..as they include all gratuities..and WiFi.
Gratuities also included in your cruise fare on P&O btw
True..but not WiFi @@TravelBlogJamie
@@jacquelinearcher1158 wifi super cheap on P&O though and for someone who doesn’t need a drinks package it works out cheaper for me 😉
Snap…thanks great video…we are off on Aurora again in Sept @@TravelBlogJamie
Hi is it Pepsi or Coca-Cola on board
Pepsi on gun and coke in bottle / can
Pay as we go…
Fortunately we have plenty of OBC
Awesome 🙌
Drinks package 🥂
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Wait... what? Got distracted by something IRL and realised, "whos voice is that, it isn't Jsmie... OMG maffoo has a talking part!" 🎉
Correct ✅
Jamie, the issue is P and O are out to make money from these drinks, it is a wonder how on an all inclusive holiday they can include drinks, I know you actually are paying for then in the original cost, but not by huge amounts, once on that holiday it is lovely to just have a nice coffee or a alcholic drink and not be paying extra every time...All in the mind, but, it is a "nice" thing to not think about paying...My biggest gripe is with the coffee's in Costa, this should just be a nice thing they offer not money grabbing! coffee is so cheap to make..i think, maybe charge a bit more on the cruise and include drinks, maybe restrict to a couple with each meal on the alcohol, most people aren't binge drinkers...Oh and what happened to duty free prices? they shouldn't be charging premium pub/restaurant prices grrrr.. I'm with you PAYG as I am not a alcohol BOOZER 😉It clearly is a thing though, this paying for extra things on board as it is always coming up to be talked about...
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Team PAYG. Idont drink enough high end drinks to justify it.
On P&O we are real PAYG (but on Princess, another matter altogether)
What happens if you don't drink alcohol
Well this wasn’t just about an alcoholic drinks package
There's an alcohol free package which Jamie mentioned in the video.
@@TravelBlogJamie I have never been on a cruise but I would like to do one that's why I asked
@@julieann3290 ok so in the vlog it shows all prices of all drinks if you don’t have a drinks package (drinks package meaning alcoholic ones and non alcoholic)
@@TravelBlogJamieok thank you
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P&O seem to want to take your money for the U-D-Package and go out of there way not to give you any drinks. Everything is excluded even at £60 P.P.P.D.
Confused
Great presentarion. Im so confused. If i have to work so hard at figuring out how to have a good time,im not going .😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
Ooooot just don’t get a drinks package lol
Drinks package for us
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See, that's just wrong. Isn't it that P&O limits you even if you Purchase a drinks package
Yes, limits limits limits 😫
I’ve got the soft drink package for me and my daughter and I’ve got £75 discount because I’ve already paid for it and it’s my second time on Alia if I get £75 discount on all my drinks and the Internet if you
Oh I don’t think you finished your comment?
Jamie, will you be updating this thread again now that you are not able to take more than a bottle of wine each? I know how you and Maffoo like a drinking poo’s while getting ready, I guess you will just have that instead of your usual Vodka.
I already made a vlog about that the day after it was announced
If you're an avid alcoholic, go for it.
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Total rip off drinks on ships this is why we will never go on a cruise
Individual drinks prices are cheaper than almost every hotel I’ve ever stayed in
Rip off
Unless you drink enough for it not to be, of course
Drinks packages are not good value for money unless you are a quite heavy drinker and your partner drinks too. American business model again.
Only a lot cheaper than the American lines