P&O finally jump on board…..

and begin a trial for their All-Inclusive drinks package option! I have to say it’s been a long time coming, pretty much all the other cruise lines have offered an All-Inclusive driinks package option for quite some time now and P&O have held out….it’s a question I get on a daily basis “can I add a drinks package with P&O?” The trial is going to last for a month and will start on the 21 July this year and will be available only onboard Azura. Once the trial is completed they will review and make a decision as to whether or not this is something they will implement across the fleet with a view to this happening in 2019.

The All-Inclusive drinks package will cost £39.95 per adult per day with the limit on any one drink being £6.95. Any drinks above this cost you will have to purchase separately and you will receive a 20% discount on the cost. It includes beers, wines by the glass, cocktails and single measure spirits as well as soft drinks, mocktails, selected coffees and teas, hot chocolates and bottles of water. It doesn’t include any drinks over £6.95, bottles of wine, juices & smoothies, large bottles of water and canned and bottled soft drinks. What do you think is this value for money? Before you decide carry on reading…..

If you are travelling with children you will also receive the children’s drinks package for free, something that will certainly be popular with families.

There will be certain restrictions that come with the package some of which I totally understand, others I think are perhaps going to be not very popular with guests.

So the usual restrictions you see with drinks packages apply, such as all adults in the same cabin must purchase the package, it’s available on cruises of five nights or longer, passengers must be over 18 or 21 in US waters.

The restrictions that stand out to me and are questionable are ..firstly you are limited to 15 beverages per day, so in a 24 hour period you can order up to 15 drinks. Is this really All-Inclusive with this restriction applied? 15 drinks initially sounds a lot, however when you think this will include soft drinks, coffee and teas and then alcoholic drinks is it? I completely understand that P&O are trying to avoid passengers drinking way too much and the cruise turning into a booze type cruise but surely we’re all adults and when you buy an all- inclusive package I think you expect it to be just that. What do you think? Does this sound reasonable to you?

The other restriction that I haven’t seen before is that between ordering your drinks there has to be a 15 minute wait time. Is this to make sure you aren’t drinking too fast, or is it to make sure you aren’t getting a drink for another person even when that person will have bought the drinks package as they are sharing your cabin generally?? To me it really doesn’t make sense and I really wonder just how P&O are going to enforce this rule.

Don’t get me wrong I know there has to be terms and conditions for any package I just wonder if the ones I mention are necessary What should be a great addition to their cruise product offering passengers the choice they want could become not so great with this type of restriction applied. Maybe it is something they will review after the trial and perhaps these terms and conditions will change. I for one hope so, I think P&O are 100% making the right move with the introduction of the All-Inclusive package I just hope they don’t add so many restrictions passengers are unhappy with it in the end.
What do you think, do you think P&O have it right, will you be booking a drinks package if they offer it for your cruise?

As always I would love to hear your views & thank you for reading.

Until next time Abbi x