AIBU to be a bit peed off about the new all inclusive drinking rule in Spain?

[Pinkycloud]

Don’t want to come across a raging alcoholic but we’ve booked an all inclusive holiday (costing about £7.5k) for me DH and 4 DC and am peed off to see you can now only have 3 alcoholic drinks with lunch and three with dinner. I know six seems a lot but it’s more about being told when you can have them and how many you can have at a given time. We’ve been to this place before (Majorca) and used to enjoy lazy afternoons sipping a beer or three by the pool. Doesn’t seem like ‘all inclusive’ anymore and we’re paying thousands for the bloody thing!

It’s an absolute pisstake, on an AI holiday the price reflects the fact that you can drink alcohol all day if you want too, and do you know what no matter what an judgemental Judy’s on here say you are on holiday so why bloody shouldn’t you. I’ll definitely not be going on an AI anywhere the rule is enforced for sure.

Me too on an Xmas hol to Egypt. DH had chatted up the bartender (as he always does!) and told him that I was trying to work out who made the best Mojitos… I think I had 3 or 4 that night, and the last tasted like neat rum… bloody lovely though 😂

Good on them. They’ve evidently had problems. Don’t like it? Go somewhere else.

@hihellohihello I am just glad that it is unlikely that I am ever going to be holidaying at the same AI hotel with you and the beer police. You go and enjoy your own self righteous company with your non-alcoholic drink and I will enjoy lazing by pool, decompressing from life with a pina colada in hand and who knows, I might even have two and still be coherent and able to behave myself!

Are you missing the fact that the Op did not know of the rule when she booked?

YANBU! What's the point of all inclusive if not unlimited alcohol? It's ok to not be alcoholic and enjoy a few weeks of excess...

You won’t get a lot of support by the snobs on MN! I think it’s totally shite and as usual the chavy rowdy ASBO lot have spoilt it for families trying to manage costs

Have you read the OPs posts?

There are other ways to monitor those who go into dangerous or aggressive excess. In one AI resort clients used plastic cards linked to room numbers. This meant that any clients going over the top could be discreetly monitored. leaving the responsible majority to monitor themselves.

I read in the Daily Fail online that in certain areas, bars won't be able to serve alcohol after a certain time in the evening (think 9pm was mentioned somewhere) and no supermarkets can either. They're cleaning up their image and their streets.

Here's part of the article.

Most of the individuals who spoil it for others are the ones who start drinking at 5am in the airport's then go on the rampage when airborne after being refused service due to being drunk. They're the ones who can't wait to neck as much alcohol as possible throughout the holiday and leave their hotel rooms in a disgraceful state.
Got no time for AI holidays or people who think 6 alcoholic drinks per day, isn't enough.

• airports.

I’m one of those judgy teetotallers that Mumsnet hates and I still think this is a shame! If you can’t get a beer sitting by the pool and have to wait until lunch/dinner then that sounds really annoying.

That’s not AI , that’s full board. Not what you booked. And as someone else mentioned ; can you buy extra? Is it that they are limiting how much alcohol you can consume or just what you don’t pay for? Are they offering any reimbursement?

What a misery.

*Most of the individuals who spoil it for others are the ones who start drinking at 5am in the airport's then go on the rampage when airborne after being refused service due to being drunk. They're the ones who can't wait to neck as much alcohol as possible throughout the holiday and leave their hotel rooms in a disgraceful state.
Got no time for AI holidays or people who think 6 alcoholic drinks per day, isn't enough.

Oops quoted but pressed post before replying!!
All inclusive isn't shorthand for holidays where people just want to get trollied - there are likely loads cheaper ways of doing it if that's you're sole intention, or purpose of a holiday.

As various pp have said sometimes AI is more convenient for them if they have young children, and all the food, facilities and entertainment is on-site. Sometimes it's just easier knowing that you don't have to calculate how much money to budget for meals/drinks?

And nowhere has the OP said she wants to drink more than 6 drinks every day, more that they want to choose when to have their (paid for) drinks.

You can definitely do Costa Rica, China and Indonesia for <£7k. Flights would be the main expense, cost of living out there is pretty cheap in those three places if you book stuff yourself and don’t stay in resorts.

Australia and the US, depends - could probably do it if you did AirBnBs and cooked for yourself/made packed lunches, but it would be tight I agree.

If you are going to not stay in a resort where there are activities available and even cook for yourself then you could stay in Spain for a lot less than £7k. Its not though the same type of holiday.

Unless you are planning to drag 4 kids on 16 hour flights to Indonesia to sit on the beach and eat street food, it would be very difficult to keep the cost of a trip like that to less than a £7k budget as a lot (£5k?) of it already went on flights.

You are missing the point of an AI holiday to Spain. It might not be the cheapest holiday you can have (holiday in school holidays never are...), but for what they offer (relatively stress free with known costs) they tend to be decent value.

I would be fuming. Cocktails by the pool are what holidays are all about. When I read the article I assumed that it would only be the budget AI resorts that had to follow. We love the IKOS resorts, which are ultra-all inclusive and they are currently building one in Mallorca - ain't paying all that money if I can't have a drink when I want one brought to my sunlounger!

The IKOS resort will be in Porto Petro so won't be impacted by these existing laws. Some on here though think these laws should be stricter and include all resorts.

All these posters 'bragging' that they 'couldn't possibly drink 6 drinks a day...oh my!' 🤦‍♀️

So bloody tedious!

I agree that there are a lot of sanctimonious posts on here. I wouldn't do a traditional AI beach holiday, because I prefer a different kind of holiday. Also I don't have 4 children, but if I did it is probably exactly what I would do.

They're cleaning up their image and their streets
Exactly that and I don't blame them. The issue with those who go on holiday to enjoy drinking without restrictions is that a too large number are convinced they are well behaved even when drunk, when the reality is that they lose all sense of self awareness, and don't remember much of it the next day.

I've been out with such friends whose behaviour was loud, obnoxious and at times embarrassing but they truly believe that they are in control when out drinking.