Not Happy P&O [Pre Paid Drinks]

[p--and--t]

The luxury lines have more going for them than say P&O. Horses for courses but I know what I would prefer to spend my money on. People have to compare apples with apples. For a mainstream itinerary (ie not adventure cruising), fares are a lot less (unless you are cruising solo or in a large suite). Hard to know if you are quoting a per person or total fare.
I am doing a 'cheapie' line in July - we shall see how it goes.

FYI In a Midship balcony travelling solo.

 

[silvertounge]

Not Happy with P&O.
Booked for voyage V307 on Pacific Adventure (xx_xx_). As seasoned travellers we like to pay in advance for drinks, etc. Sadly P&O have changed the rules and now expect us to pay in advance for EVERY day of the voyage. They also force each of us to pay the same, regardless of whether we have different needs, e.g., if one of us is non-alcoholic or one of us drinks primarily coffee or tea with the occasional wine at main meal. Further compounding the problem, on a 13 day cruise, only 6 days are actually at sea when we would avail ourselves of the on board facilities, the other 7 days are either transferring or in port somewhere where we would mostly not be on the ship but trying to “support the local economy” ha, ha.

If P&O was smarter they would offer a prepay drinks option whereby a passenger can buy a non-alcoholic card for, say $30 which will buy $60 of drinks on board at ship prices (perfect for kids?) and a $60 prepay option that covers ALL drink categories, including barista options and alcoholic drinks, etc. to the value of $100 on board at ship prices. These pre-purchased cards would, of course, be locked in to the individual passenger and printed on their on-board ID card that you have to carry everywhere, so couples could each choose the option that suits the individual. No doubt there may be the occasional friend/partner buying a drink for a friend/partner but so long as they charge it to their card, that’s the joy of sharing the voyage with a companion. For the heavy drinkers, let them buy more than one prepay if they want to drink that much while on board, no refunds, of course if you don’t spend the lot. Bottom line, my wife and I would be quite happy to each take the $60 prepay option which would allow us to drink what we feel like, when we feel like it, throughout the voyage and I’m very confident we are not alone.

So come on P&O, dare to offer a distinctly different approach for your passengers to enjoy while sailing with you.

Bob Baker

Why post this here? I reckon we are all travellers who sometimes go by ship

What I can't understand is both having to have a drink package when you are limited to a set amount of fifteen drinks per twenty four hour day on your card,makes sense to share if you are both light drinkers.

 

[silvertounge]

Not Happy with P&O.
Booked for voyage V307 on Pacific Adventure (xx_xx_). As seasoned travellers we like to pay in advance for drinks, etc. Sadly P&O have changed the rules and now expect us to pay in advance for EVERY day of the voyage. They also force each of us to pay the same, regardless of whether we have different needs, e.g., if one of us is non-alcoholic or one of us drinks primarily coffee or tea with the occasional wine at main meal. Further compounding the problem, on a 13 day cruise, only 6 days are actually at sea when we would avail ourselves of the on board facilities, the other 7 days are either transferring or in port somewhere where we would mostly not be on the ship but trying to “support the local economy” ha, ha.

If P&O was smarter they would offer a prepay drinks option whereby a passenger can buy a non-alcoholic card for, say $30 which will buy $60 of drinks on board at ship prices (perfect for kids?) and a $60 prepay option that covers ALL drink categories, including barista options and alcoholic drinks, etc. to the value of $100 on board at ship prices. These pre-purchased cards would, of course, be locked in to the individual passenger and printed on their on-board ID card that you have to carry everywhere, so couples could each choose the option that suits the individual. No doubt there may be the occasional friend/partner buying a drink for a friend/partner but so long as they charge it to their card, that’s the joy of sharing the voyage with a companion. For the heavy drinkers, let them buy more than one prepay if they want to drink that much while on board, no refunds, of course if you don’t spend the lot. Bottom line, my wife and I would be quite happy to each take the $60 prepay option which would allow us to drink what we feel like, when we feel like it, throughout the voyage and I’m very confident we are not alone.

So come on P&O, dare to offer a distinctly different approach for your passengers to enjoy while sailing with you.

Bob Baker

Why post this here? I reckon we are all travellers who sometimes go by ship

 

[odysseus]

What I can't understand is both having to have a drink package when you are limited to a set amount of fifteen drinks per twenty four hour day on your card,makes sense to share if you are both light drinkers.

Because they model pricing based on single person use, not as a card that pays for 15 drinks/day.

And if you share, that cuts the revenue model in half. As only one person would buy the card, and then both would use it if there was no restriction. And even heavy drinkers at 7 alcoholic drinks/day would share.

 

[Buzzard]

What I can't understand is both having to have a drink package when you are limited to a set amount of fifteen drinks per twenty four hour day on your card,makes sense to share if you are both light drinkers.

Totally agree. 15 drinks is 15 drinks regardless if consumed by one person or several, it still adds up to 15.
Obviously the cruise line is more interested in their bottom line than yours.

Different companies do it different ways.
On MSC you can buy "discounted" drink vouchers which aligns more with your 15 drinks scenario.