Greedy P and O ferry no alcohol rule

markwood1969

by the way, they call it a mini cruise but it is really a ferry crossing. I often travel with Brittany ferries and they have no such rules. from the people I spoke to, they only check and search foot passengers, not car ones, how well enforced is that!

jpsartre

markwood1969 wrote: »

It is a bit like a hotel refusing to let you take a bottle of wine to your room. they cannot stop you, its nothing to do with them.

If a hotel had a policy about not allowing alcohol being brought into the rooms, of course they can.

zagfles

markwood1969 wrote: »

by the way, they call it a mini cruise but it is really a ferry crossing. I often travel with Brittany ferries and they have no such rules. from the people I spoke to, they only check and search foot passengers, not car ones, how well enforced is that!

Not enforced at all IME (as a car passenger), I didn't even know about it and I've sailed with P&O loads of times. Last year I had a few bottles of beer left over from our holiday which we took onto the ferry and I drank them in the bar, I even used their bottle opener to open the bottles, no-one seemed to mind! I did buy drinks for my wife and the kids though...

Don't worry about the comments on this thread - there is a tendancy on this board for knee-jerk reactions to anyone who complains about anything!

zagfles

jpsartre wrote: »

If a hotel had a policy about not allowing alcohol being brought into the rooms, of course they can.

But it's very rare they do. Don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel with such a policy (hostels 30 years ago, yes).

Though I've heard stories about hotels in third world package holiday type countries which don't allow you to bring bottled water into the hotel :eek:

mcfisco

I think the OP simply missed the leading question when he checked in, the correct answer is "no"

I've been searched many times crossing the channel but they weren't interested in any booze I may have

maman

I can completely understand why OP feels aggrieved. My guess it's really about P&O wanting to make money but, if challenged, they'd dress it up in health & safety.

I believe a similar thing happens at many football and concert venues, not just with alcohol but with basic food and drink. The real reason is they want a captive audience to pay their prices. It makes you feel ripped off and angry.

Ferries are getting more and more expensive, people have less money to spend so their business is going down hence the need to try to attract custom. I hardly think making customers feel like OP is the way to do it.

zagfles

maman wrote: »

I can completely understand why OP feels aggrieved. My guess it's really about P&O wanting to make money but, if challenged, they'd dress it up in health & safety.

I believe a similar thing happens at many football and concert venues, not just with alcohol but with basic food and drink. The real reason is they want a captive audience to pay their prices. It makes you feel ripped off and angry.

Ferries are getting more and more expensive, people have less money to spend so their business is going down hence the need to try to attract custom. I hardly think making customers feel like OP is the way to do it.

It's also pretty petty - how much profit will they really make per customer on selling drink? Say the average customer drinks 3 pints, spending maybe £10-12, maybe £5-10 profit max per customer. It is really worth searching peoples' bags and confiscating booze and annoying customers, making the boarding procedure slower for everyone, just to make a measly few pounds?

The loss of business which results from annoyed customers must surely outweigh this, I doubt I'd have travelled as much as I have with P&O if they'd searched me every time I boarded.

jpsartre

zagfles wrote: »

But it's very rare they do. Don't think I've ever stayed in a hotel with such a policy (hostels 30 years ago, yes).

Sure, but that was the example given

McKneff

There is an offer on at the moment with DFS, £79 for two people with a free breakfast on the way out. Now under those circumstances and price I don't mind spending a few quid in the bar on the way over.

I buy a bottle of wine in the duty free on the first day, collect it next morning and drink it that same night (shared of course) so no problem.

And yes I did say £79 and breakfast for 2 people. Now that is very MSE

zagfles

McKneff wrote: »

There is an offer on at the moment with DFS, £79 for two people with a free breakfast on the way out. Now under those circumstances and price I don't mind spending a few quid in the bar on the way over.

I buy a bottle of wine in the duty free on the first day, collect it next morning and drink it that same night (shared of course) so no problem.

And yes I did say £79 and breakfast for 2 people. Now that is very MSE

Presume you mean DFDS, DFS don't go very far unless you give the sofas a good push

Sounds a good deal - where to and how long do you get to stay? I suspect they make the money on dinner which is expensive on DFDS as I remember.