With onboard drinks priced to match standard UK pub rates, figuring out if a daily drink package saves you cash or drains your holiday budget requires a deep dive into the numbers.
Deciding whether to purchase P&O Cruises drinks packages or stick to paying as you go is one of the most debated financial decisions you will face before setting sail. On American cruise lines, the decision is often a no-brainer because a single cocktail can cost $15 to $18, forcing you to buy a package just to survive the week.
P&O Cruises operates on a completely different economic model. Because their bars are priced to mirror traditional British high-street pub rates, individual drinks are highly reasonable. This means their daily packages require a surprisingly high volume of consumption just to break even.
In this definitive value analysis, we break down the current packaging price tiers, reveal the real 2026 bar pricing on board, do the exact daily break-even math, and expose the hidden rules that could cost your cabin hundreds of pounds.
Package Pricing & Inclusions: The 2026 Tiers
P&O Cruises offers four distinct drink packages for itineraries lasting 5 nights or longer. If you purchase your package via the My P&O Cruises portal before your sail date, you can generally secure a 10% discount, but the standard onboard daily base rates are structured as follows:
- The Refresh Package (£16 per person, per day): Covers regular and large soft drinks on tap (Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite), fruit juices by the glass, and selected mocktails.
- The Alcohol-Free Package (£29 per person, per day): Includes everything in the Refresh tier, plus small Costa Coffee hot drinks, Teapigs/Pukka teas, non-alcoholic beers/ciders, and bottled still or sparkling water.
- The Classic Drinks Package (£50 per person, per day): P&O’s most popular choice. It covers selected cocktails, 25ml measures of spirits, draught or bottled beers and ciders, house Prosecco by the glass, and 175ml glasses of wine. It also gives you a 20% discount on items excluded from the package and provides a free soft drink package to any children sharing your cabin.
- The Deluxe Drinks Package (£60 to £65 per person, per day): The top-tier package (priced at £65 for cruises up to 14 nights, dropping to £60 for long sailings). It expands your choices to premium spirit brands (Grey Goose, Hendrick’s, Salcombe Gin), double measures (50ml), craft beers, perfect-serve gin and tonics, large 250ml glasses of wine, and an extended cocktail menu.
The Strict Fine Print
Before doing the math, you must look at the two strict operational constraints P&O applies to these packages:
- The Cabin Share Rule: Every adult (18+) sharing a stateroom must purchase the same drinks package. If you are a heavy drinker but your partner only drinks tap water, you are forced to pay for two packages.
- The 15-Drink Daily Limit: To encourage responsible drinking, your cruise card will only allow a maximum of 15 alcoholic drinks within any 24-hour window (running from 6:00 AM to 6:00 AM). Non-alcoholic drinks remain completely unlimited.
Onboard Drink Price Reference Guide
To find out if a package is worth your money, you need to know exactly what individual items cost on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis. The following data table reflects typical current bar prices across the P&O fleet:
| Drink Type & Size | Specific Example | Individual PAYG Price |
| Draught Beer / Cider (Pint) | Birra Moretti / BrewDog Punk IPA | £5.95 |
| Bottled Beer / Ale (500ml) | Sharp’s Doom Bar / London Pride | £5.85 |
| Standard Cocktail | Aperol Spritz / Sunset Cooler | £9.50 |
| House Wine (175ml glass) | Coral Bay Chardonnay / Pinot Grigio | £7.50 |
| Large Wine (250ml glass) | Standard Premium Tier | £9.50 – £10.75 |
| Single Spirit (25ml) + Mixer | Standard Gin, Vodka, or Whisky | ~£5.50 – £6.00 |
| Double Spirit (50ml) + Mixer | Standard Premium Pour | ~£8.50 – £9.00 |
| Costa Coffee (Small) | Latte / Cappuccino | £2.80 – £3.50 |
| Soft Drink / Soda (On Tap) | Coca-Cola / Sprite | £2.50 – £3.00 |
The “Break-Even” Volume Math
Let’s apply the individual pricing to the daily cost of the two main alcohol packages to establish your precise daily break-even thresholds.
Scenario A: The Classic Package (£50.00 per day)
Because the Classic package limits you to 25ml spirit measures and 175ml wine glasses, hitting £50.00 a day requires consistent effort. To clear that threshold, your daily consumption layout must look like this:
- 1 x Costa Coffee in the morning (£3.00)
- 2 x Soft drinks or juices by the pool (£5.50)
- 2 x Pints of draught lager before dinner (£11.90)
- 2 x 175ml glasses of house wine with dinner (£15.00)
- 2 x Standard evening cocktails in the theatre (£19.00)
- Total PAYG Value: £54.40
The Verdict: You must consume roughly 9 to 10 drinks every single day to start saving money on the Classic Package.
Scenario B: The Deluxe Package (£65.00 per day)
Because the Deluxe package includes premium lines, 50ml double measures, and large 250ml wine glasses, your monetary total climbs much faster per serving:
- 1 x Morning specialty coffee (£3.20)
- 1 x Large bottled sparkling water (£2.50)
- 2 x Premium double spirit serves with mixers (£18.00)
- 2 x Large 250ml premium glasses of wine (£21.50)
- 2 x Top-tier specialty cocktails (£20.00)
- Total PAYG Value: £65.20
The Verdict: If you strictly drink premium spirits, doubles, and large wine measures, your break-even point drops significantly to roughly 6 to 7 premium drinks per day.
The CruisePing Financial Verdict: Pack or Pay-As-You-Go?
Stick to Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) if:
- Your cabin partner is a light drinker: Because of the Cabin Share rule, if you drink £60 worth of beverages a day but your spouse only drinks two coffees and a soda (£10 value), your cabin loses massive amounts of money overall.
- Your itinerary features heavy port days: If you are on a 7-night Norwegian Fjords itinerary where the ship is docked from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM almost every day, you will spend your peak drinking hours exploring onshore. Hitting a 9-drink break-even threshold in the few remaining hours before bed is incredibly difficult.
- You enjoy a moderate, social drinking pace: If you naturally tap out after three pints or a couple of glasses of wine in the evening, your daily bill will rarely cross £25 to £30.
Buy the Drinks Package if:
- You are booking an itinerary with multiple sea days: When you are spending 24 hours straight on a ship, wandering between the pool deck, the quiz lounges, and the evening venues makes hitting the break-even mark effortless.
- You want a predictable, pre-paid holiday budget: If you hate the idea of a running tally hanging over your head and want the luxury of ordering a cocktail, trying a sip, and changing your mind without worrying about the cost, the financial peace of mind is worth the upfront layout.
- You naturally prefer premium brands and doubles: If your default drink orders are double premium gins or top-shelf vodkas, upgrading to the Deluxe Package makes strong financial sense.