P&O Classic drinks query

[Mymothersfavouritegirl]

We’re going on our first P&O cruise in a couple of weeks time. We have cruised with other cruise lines where we have been all inclusive with as many drinks as you like included. As we’re off to the Caribbean and anticipating it will be hot I wonder if anyone has any tips on making the best of their classic drinks package which is restricted to 15 drinks per person per day our travel agent advises.
I would love to hear from anyone who’s cruised with P&O and knows their ways and can give some good pointers. Thanks.

What do you mean, OP? 15 drinks a day is a lot. When I sailed P&O in September, I had the Deluxe Package which was also capped at 15/day but got nowhere near that (and I really do like a drink- had plenty!)

It's 15 alcoholic drinks. No limit on soft drinks or hot beverages.

Have a wonderful time.

Ahh that’s great news @TianasBayou, I certainly won’t have more than 15 alcoholic drinks. Thanks so much.

Have a look online for the current drinks menus as there's a few rules regarding serving size, 15 min wait time between orders, and which cocktails and spirits are included in which package.

When I went on a PandO cruise the service in the bars was so slow that it didn't make our drinks package that good value . We just about broke even.

Why do you need more than 15 drinks/ day ?

Why do you need to know?

So that they can answer your question in the right context, presumably.

It's unclear what you meant by "making the best of" in your OP.

Read the post! Honestly how useful is it to answer a query with a question?

But you did too 🤣

I don’t think that’s correct at all. When I was onboard, coffees (from Costa) and soft drinks came out of my allowance. Water and self-serve tea/coffee in the buffet restaurant were free and available all day. Plus there are water refill stations across the ship.

I did find that, for example, an orange juice on its own counted as one drink, and a vodka counted as one drink- but an order of a vodka with orange juice wasn’t counted as two.

OP, can I ask again what advice you’re looking for? I know you said “pointers” but I’m not sure what info it is you’d like people to share.

We didn't have a drinks package. 2 adults 1 child. Took a refillable water bottle and used the refil station.
Remember there is included tea and coffee in the buffet and yes you can carry it out of there.

We spend £53 over a week on drinks . It was a cold cruise though.

For the avoidance of misinformation, this is from the P&O website:

You're entitled to up to 15 alcoholic drinks per day, per package. After which, any drinks will be charged at full price with a 20% discount. All non-alcoholic drinks included in the package are unlimited.
Only one drink may be ordered per package at any one time at a minimum of 15-minute intervals.

www.pocruises.com/onboard-activities/bars-and-lounges/drinks-packages/frequently-asked-questions

Anyone else trying to get their head around "full price with a 20% discount"? Either it's full price, or it's discounted!

Assume they mean 80% of full price?

I wondered this. But is the discount only for people that have a drinks allowance and have gone over that amount?

Yes. If you manage to exceed 15 alcoholic drinks in a day, any paid-for drinks will be discounted by 20%.

Sorry long day traveling hence late response. Ok so, any pointers of any kind regarding cruising with P&O specifically would be useful as we have never cruised with them before. Different cruise lines seem to have their quirks.
I think the 15 drinks question is sorted because we were lead to believe by TA that we had a max of 15 drinks in total but if that’s alcohol we’ll go nowhere near that.

Which ship are you going on?

Brittania.

Ah. I've not been on that one.
Lots of great Facebook groups if you search your cruise number.

Britannia

It doesn't include hot drinks and juices at breakfast nor drinks from the buffet.

That’s really useful to know. Thanks @TianasBayou

There's always one!

Also check out Caribbean Cruise Excursions You Save They Benefit on Facebook.

They arrange excursions via local operators which work out better value than the cruise line. Lots of passengers, including us, use them.