Explore4 Special- Bad Deal

i don't see where this is false advertising; more like false expectations.

absolutely

As many have said "There's no free lunch". Do you seriously expect HAL to give you $965 of a beverage package and PG dinner on an 18 day cruise and not charge you for it ? If you do, then I have a bridge to sell to you ! HAL does not say the Explore-4 promotion is free. It is included in your cruise fare and a benefit. And yes, in most cases, the fare goes up. An 18 day SBP is worth $931, ($44.95 per day + 15% X 18 days) plus the $35 PG dinner. That's a total of $965 in benefits for a cruise price increase of, as you stated "around $900". Do your math. If you don't think you will consume $45 per day (plus 15% service charge) in beverages, then tell your TA or PCC to re-fare your cruise without the promotion. Simple !! Some CC members say they have gotten Explore-4 for little or no price increase. Bravo for them, they got deal ! That is not the norm. When promotions that give you benefits, like beverage packages, HSC, or free internet, and you are paying for it some way.

As many have said "There's no free lunch". Do you seriously expect HAL to give you $965 of a beverage package and PG dinner on an 18 day cruise and not charge you for it ? If you do, then I have a bridge to sell to you ! HAL does not say the Explore-4 promotion is free. It is included in your cruise fare and a benefit. And yes, in most cases, the fare goes up. An 18 day SBP is worth $931, ($44.95 per day + 15% X 18 days) plus the $35 PG dinner. That's a total of $965 in benefits for a cruise price increase of, as you stated "around $900". Do your math. If you don't think you will consume $45 per day (plus 15% service charge) in beverages, then tell your TA or PCC to re-fare your cruise without the promotion. Simple !! Some CC members say they have gotten Explore-4 for little or no price increase. Bravo for them, they got deal ! That is not the norm. When promotions that give you benefits, like beverage packages, HSC, or free internet, and you are paying for it some way.

I think the reason some pax report a price increase ffor promos and others don't is that it is a case of apples and oranges.

Time of cruise, how it is selling inrespect to their time-line predictions, HAL's pricing computer-generated pricing scheme.

One cruise might be selling well, meeting targets, price still high: Explore4 or any promo can be with no added charge or minor charge. Another cruise not selling well, not meeting targets, pricing decreased to generate sales: Explore4 or any other promo will be surcharged to make up for the lowered pricing.

I figure anyone with a "free" promo is paying near top dollar to start with (in HAL's pricing scheme). HAL knows their target pricing, their bottom line. Promos are to push the right button with customers to get them to book.

We are booking a Cruise with the Rotterdam for 2018 these days.

We were offered to book without Explore 4 Package and Save 300€ per Person.

We will get 200$ for our Suite OBC - so the saving will only be ~200€ per Person -and we will get a free Pinnacle Dinner (we do one Pinnacle Dinner every cruise, so Perfect for us).

So the saving will only be ~170€ per Person and for this 170€ we will get the Beverage package and can drink what ever we want!

For us a good deal and we booked with explore 4!

You absolutely have to "do the math" on Explore4.

Here is the Explore4 value we received on our recent 12 day Zuiderdam Norway/Scotland cruise (last year's Explore4 promotion). We were in a Neptune.

$621.77 - beverages (avg ~$26/day per person, but one of us is a lighter drinker)

$187.00 - internet credit (could have used up to $200)

$360.00 - HSC

$ 70.00 - Pinnacle Grill dinner

-----------

$1,238.77 total "value" of our Explore4

Now, here's the kicker. We could have rebooked prior to final payment, and lost Explore4 but saved almost $2,000 (total cabin) on the cruise fare. I think we also would have lost our cabin assignment and gone to guarantee status for a Neptune. So, having never sailed with a beverage package before, I just wasn't sure how much we'd drink. We decided to keep Explore4.

Having now sailed with Explore4, and having more or less a "baseline" for beverages, we'll have a better idea how to evaluate future offers. "Do the math!". ;)

You absolutely have to "do the math" on Explore4.

 

Here is the Explore4 value we received on our recent 12 day Zuiderdam Norway/Scotland cruise (last year's Explore4 promotion). We were in a Neptune.

 

$621.77 - beverages (avg ~$26/day per person, but one of us is a lighter drinker)

$187.00 - internet credit (could have used up to $200)

$360.00 - HSC

$ 70.00 - Pinnacle Grill dinner

-----------

$1,238.77 total "value" of our Explore4

 

Now, here's the kicker. We could have rebooked prior to final payment, and lost Explore4 but saved almost $2,000 (total cabin) on the cruise fare. I think we also would have lost our cabin assignment and gone to guarantee status for a Neptune. So, having never sailed with a beverage package before, I just wasn't sure how much we'd drink. We decided to keep Explore4.

 

Having now sailed with Explore4, and having more or less a "baseline" for beverages, we'll have a better idea how to evaluate future offers. "Do the math!". ;)

I have always kept my cabin when rebooking for a different promotion (or giving one up).

Try using some of the other TA websites to see the "with" promo prices and the "without" promo prices. The big box club we often use for travel booking will show you this in fairly easy to interpret terms.

Thanks for this suggestion! I haven't wanted to call my PCC back and ask "the question" -- she and her co-PCC have been very helpful and stopped me from switching to the lower price SNAP fare (I thought I was seeing a special Mariner fare bc put my numbers in) when going non-refundable would have been a poor choice so far out and for the number of people I'm booking for.

So I logged in to that membership site and ran a dummy booking for another cabin in the same category and discovered that the $100pp it looked like I was paying for E4, is indeed all that I am paying! :D

We had two cruises scheduled in 2016 and our TA was able to add Explore 4 to both without a price increase. Ultimately, we had to cancel one because of work schedules. We kept our cabin assignments in both cases. It doesn't always work that way, so it pays to look at all your options.

So it obviously it is very worthwhile to compare - which I'm convinced not that many really do! When we started cruising - and before I learned about CruiseCritic:D - we paid without complaining what was asked. I woke up when I learned too late that through price drops I could have gotten one of the best suites instead of a regular balcony cabin...

Strangely enough, there's not always the same difference in fares when you compare cabin categories with and without Explore4 promotion: For the cruise we are considering to book right now it is a difference of some 700 $ for the lower balcony cabins and oceanviews, 900-1100 for the higher categories like VB or VA and 1300 $ for Signature Suites compared to the "basic" prices. Are those who book higher categories more affluent or are they expected to drink more???:evilsmile:

But it's good to see stories like those above that show such a small difference that Explore4 really is a worthwhile extra.

So it obviously it is very worthwhile to compare - which I'm convinced not that many really do! When we started cruising - and before I learned about CruiseCritic:D - we paid without complaining what was asked. I woke up when I learned too late that through price drops I could have gotten one of the best suites instead of a regular balcony cabin...

Strangely enough, there's not always the same difference in fares when you compare cabin categories with and without Explore4 promotion: For the cruise we are considering to book right now it is a difference of some 700 $ for the lower balcony cabins and oceanviews, 900-1100 for the higher categories like VB or VA and 1300 $ for Signature Suites compared to the "basic" prices. Are those who book higher categories more affluent or are they expected to drink more???:evilsmile:

But it's good to see stories like those above that show such a small difference that Explore4 really is a worthwhile extra.

Your great examples bring up an important point - a major consideration in the pricing at any given time in any given category is highly dependent on how well that category and sailing.

If you are REALLY crunching the numbers, figure in also what increase to your travel insurance having the EXPLORE 4 pricing (which in most cases reported is higher than without). When figured in it may sometimes make it a break even sitation, or actually detract from the benefit of having the perks inclyded in cruise pricing.

We booked a cruise today. E4 does not do much for us for various reasons so I told my mother to ask our PCC for the price without the E4 promo. The difference was a whopping $15 (we have reserved a category F oceanview stateroom on an 11 day cruise in December 2018) so we took the promo. Now I will keep watching the price of the cruise, and if a better deal or a better promo comes up later before final payment, we will certainly inquire with our PCC. We booked our next cruise, a 20 day Panama Canal transit, under the Explore 4 promo last year. Then in November there was that cyber sale promo that lowered the cost of our cruise by $550 (which happens to be the taxes and fees amount), gave us prepaid gratuities, and gave us some additional OBC, plus a $25 drink card. We were very happy to trade in E4 for that.

So is Explore 4 a "bad deal"? It depends--first on you and what you value (free drinkies? prepaid grats? low deposit? OBC? free internetz? reduced fare for additional pax in room? lowest fare you can get? etc). Think about that first. Then check out the offer, whether it's E4 or something else. Do you even care about the particular perks being offered? If you're already booked, also consider what you would give up from your original deal to get the new one. And of course it depends on the particular sailing as well. Maybe the cruise you're interested in is booking well and HAL doesn't need a promo to get cabins filled so they raised the fare by exactly the cost of the included perks. Maybe it isn't, or a certain category of cabin isn't selling well. Or whatever. The promo is neither inherently good or bad; it just is what it is for a particular sailing/category/passenger, which may or may not be good for you and your needs. It costs you nothing but a little time to ask the questions and look into it though, and if you do find a deal, all the better.

We are already booked without Explore4 at $6238 per person. When I asked for Explore4 they wanted to charge me extra $900. When you crunch the numbers, if I were to walk on the ship and buy the beverage package and dinner it would come out pretty close to the amount of $900. Thus not a special at all, just plain false advertising.

So how is this "false advertising?" People seem to like to say that, but you get exactly what they say you get for the price they quote. Sure, $900 more than what you paid, but if you hadn't known about the cruise, and hadn't booked early, how would the current pricing and promotion be "false?" How about this.. I booked a cruise for $1450 per person. A few weeks later some friends decided to go and the price was $1750. "False advertising?" No, just a new price schedule. You are not injured by the increased price. If you don't think the Explore 4 is worth it to you, don't book it. It sounds to me that you want the Explore 4 added to your previously priced cruise for free. We booked on Koningsdam for this past June. A few months later the Explore 4 was offered at an increase of about $400 per person. Since we were in a Suite, it was worth the Drink package, tips, specialty dining, and $200 Internet credit. A value of about $1200 or more. So let's see, $800 to save $1200. Sure! THEN the price dropped to a final total of only $100 per person more than the original price! So effectively my cost for the cruise DROPPED about $1000! Bring on that "false advertising!"

False advertising, free......

Isn't Explore4 just a promo like the others (View and Verhanda, Ready, Set Sail) with the goal of appealing to pax to book a cruise. If not one promo , another or another might push the right button with some pax.

It's just a promotion. They never say explicitly that the benefits are "free" add ons to existing offers.

Their travel partners certainly do. Any of the larger ones say Free Perks.

Their travel partners certainly do.

That's one reason why I book through the cruise line rather than through a travel agent. If I'm told something about my cruise, I want to be able to rely on it being an honest and accurate statement rather than prevarication.

So what you're saying is that their travel partners lie.

 

 

That's one reason why I book through the cruise line rather than through a travel agent. If I'm told something about my cruise, I want to be able to rely on it being an honest and accurate statement rather than prevarication.

I would categorize it as disingenuous.

Actually, I think that for the most part, not all, will tell you what you want to hear. Therein lies the value of a good TA. Way too many are just order takers.

I have had good fortune with PCC's at HAL and their counterparts at other lines, but in doing so, I may be giving up some OBC. For me, it is better to deal with someone I trust.

I would categorize it as disingenuous.

I have had good fortune with PCC's at HAL and their counterparts at other lines, but in doing so, I may be giving up some OBC. For me, it is better to deal with someone I trust.

Thanks for putting this in words. When I used the membership store's site to compare prices w/ and w/o E4, the prices were exactly what we're paying... but with ab. $320 OBC per cabin. I thought about transferring but became queasy!!! So for all who say, you'd turn down "money" just to have control of your reservation? my answer is, yes I would.

Thanks for putting this in words. When I used the membership store's site to compare prices w/ and w/o E4, the prices were exactly what we're paying... but with ab. $320 OBC per cabin. I thought about transferring but became queasy!!! So for all who say, you'd turn down "money" just to have control of your reservation? my answer is, yes I would.

Interesting. I've often wondered what was meant by having "control of reservation". Seems like "control of reservation" means working with someone you can trust to you????

That's fine but these threads are replete with comments about how unreliable cruise line customer service personnel can be.

I came on here to see if others had noticed a price increase with Explore4. Good to know. I booked a European cruise last year with Explore4. There were two price drops which we were able to get before final payment and not lose E4; then at final payment the price went down $600 pp. We lost E4, but it was well worth it to us. We don't drink that much, and we received a Pinnacle Grill meal from our travel agent.

I was surprised to see that some travel sites have HAL cruises at the reduced rates. They don't mention E4. I wonder if that rate is available from them or they haven't updated their websites with the E4 offer. It was interesting to read here that it's possible to get a reduced rate from HAL and forfeit E4.

@RocketMan275

On Christmas Eve 2015, which should have been the last cancellation date for a cruise I had held off cancelling because I so wanted to go -- I faced the fact that it was just unwise to keep the booking. I had made the reservation myself, so I called to cancel -- and discovered that HAL was observing Saturday as a holiday! (Xmas fell on Sunday.) I was frantic as I had two cabins booked with deposits totaling $2400.

Fortunately I had saved an email from a PCC who had been assigned to me, although I had not used her to make any bookings. I called her number, but she too had the day off. I emailed her with the request to cancel and all the details.

On the day after Christmas, I was bumped up to a manager who could see the time stamp on my email and OKed my refund. I now book through that PCC! She and the coworker who takes her calls when she is on holiday have saved my bacon at least once since then (I was almost lured into re-faring on the NON-refundable SNAP fares), so yeah I do trust them.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Others may love their travel agent or their membership club, that's fine. I was just happy to find someone else on CC who agreed with my experience.

We only compare ships and prices...bottom line pricing for the cabin of our choice.

So, when the cruise line bundle in things that are so called free we discount them entirely or we discount the down to their value to us. Not what the cruise line charges for option.

Free bottles of water, priority boarding, etc are meaningless to us and have zero value. That drink plan may sell for $400 but it may only be worth $100 to us so that is what we use to bring down the fares to an apples to apples comparison with other cruise fares that we may be considering. We take it as a given that any bundle, unless it only includes on board gratuities, will NOT be to our financial advantage given our personal preferences. So far this has held true for many years. No such thing as a free lunch on a cruise ship....or anywhere else.

The cruise lines are not cheating you. They are marketing their product in the expectation that people will read free but not bother to do the basic math. We have never understood why the word free has such an impact on some consumers that they fail to do even that basic arithmetic. It is almost like 10 cents each or two for a quarter even if the second box has no value to the customer.

We only compare ships and prices...bottom line pricing for the cabin of our choice.

 

So, when the cruise line bundle in things that are so called free we discount them entirely or we discount the down to their value to us. Not what the cruise line charges for option.

 

Free bottles of water, priority boarding, etc are meaningless to us and have zero value. That drink plan may sell for $400 but it may only be worth $100 to us so that is what we use to bring down the fares to an apples to apples comparison with other cruise fares that we may be considering. We take it as a given that any bundle, unless it only includes on board gratuities, will NOT be to our financial advantage given our personal preferences. So far this has held true for many years. No such thing as a free lunch on a cruise ship....or anywhere else.

 

The cruise lines are not cheating you. They are marketing their product in the expectation that people will read free but not bother to do the basic math. We have never understood why the word free has such an impact on some consumers that they fail to do even that basic arithmetic. It is almost like 10 cents each or two for a quarter even if the second box has no value to the customer.

A marketing professional will tell you that nothing attracts business like offering something for "free".

We do the same thing and rarely do we find $xplore4 to be to our advantage. Interestingly, HAL or Princess offered a beverage package "valued at $400" but gave you a choice of declining the beverage package and taking $150 in OBC. Nor, do we find Internet minutes to be valuable.

We look at beverage packages like we do extended warranties. It's common knowledge that an extended warranty will cost more than the expected value of repairs. It's major attraction is the guarantee that your repairs will not exceed the cost of the warranty. Kinda like a beverage package. You know the package will cost you more than just buying beverages but it does serve as a guarantee that you want spend more.

When it comes to cruises the terms 'free' or 'duty free' usually mean to us that we are being asked to pay more than we normally would for the same benefit.

It is as though the word free or duty free releases endorphins and causes people not to compute properly.