josumello

We are booked for our first HAL cruise. One disappointment is that there’s really no easy way to see our OBC , perks, etc. I guess we were spoiled with the Celebrity website. 
HAL really needs to up their website. 

11 hours ago, dickinson said:

Sadly, not for me.  I have to wait the 3-5 business days for their call back.  I hope I get one!

I had a similar problem with HAL gift cards. One big problem was with the AARP rep who was basically incompetent. Unfortunately each time I called I always got her!! Anyway on the third call I think she knew she was clueless and disconnected me. I called back and fortunately got a new rep. She was great. Expidited the problem to tech support, no 3-5 day wait.  They emailed me right away and fixed the problem. Moral of story: don’t be afraid to move on from a bad rep!!

28 minutes ago, dchip said:

We put our clocks back 1/2 going to Nuku Hiva on the Tales cruise. 
 

D&H

We changed our clocks 1/2 hour in Adelaide Australia 

42 minutes ago, julia said:

So agree with @BermudaBound2014 regarding the Ohana Catamaran from Papeete...  we ended up on this s***show last year because our call on Kauai was cancelled due to high winds.  Scrambling to use our HIA excursion funds (with not much to choose from), we settled on this tour.  It was not only boring, the so called snorkeling was rather dangerous.  I'm a young 60-something and went down the catamaran ladder and literally got pulled out.  Thanks to good fins and strong arms, I was back up that ladder (after helping two older folks) in a few minutes.  A ski-doo had to rescue several others.  I took the time to fill out a review form on this excursion, but now see that it was useless.  Damn. 😲

Thanks for this info. I was going to book this as I thought it might be easy for DH. Will probably now look to booking land tour in Tahiti. 

I have really enjoyed following this thread. Thanks to all who contributed. 
We will

be doing this cruise next year. After reading the challenging disembark I am rethinking my plan to book a 12:15pm flight. Do you think this is cutting it too close??

Thanks. 

When are we able to book specialty dining? Will reservations show up on Navigator calendar? We have second seating MDR dining and that is not on calendar. 
Also does HAL ever have sales on shore excursions?  Thinking Fourth of July or maybe Black Friday. 
 

TIA

47 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

Let's see if I understand this.

 

I have some NR OBC.  Since I have HIA, I'm not sure how/when I'd use it all (except for some spa time; I don't shop on board).

 

Am I correct that y'all are saying I can book excursions, paying via credit card, and once I board, go to Shore Ex desk, ask to have the payment changed from my CC to my NR OBC.  The CC payment will then appear in my folio as a refundable OBC.

 

I then can use that refundable OBC in the casino?. And if I don't use it all (Ha!), it gets refunded to the credit card backing my account.

 

Cruise I'm concerned about isn't until next January. so I'm not sure I want to charge multiple expensive Hawaii excursions this early.  But I don't want to wait too long and miss out.  I'll use my HIA to book the 3 I really want to do and maybe purchase a couple of extras (although I much prefer independent excursions).

 

If anyone can confirm that this works with spa services/passes, that would be really helpful!

 

Sure would be great if HAL would just let us book things pre-cruise using OBC.  Carnival does and it's so easy to do.

Celebrity and Royal also ask if you would like to use OBC when making precruise purchases. That includes just about anything. They also have the amount listed which is convenient. We are taking our first HAL cruise and it is difficult to know what our finances are. 

6 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

It does seem to vary, but as @highscar reported, late was 7:30 when I was on last month.

My TA just changed it for me. Can I see this anywhere on website or app? 

7 minutes ago, highscar said:

Late dinning was 7:30 this month on Koninsdam. 

Thanks. I think that will work better for us 

10 hours ago, TableGirl said:

Can I suggest you write a note to the Food and Beverage Manager to ask for a meeting about a problem in the MDR?  Apparently, it has been an ongoing problem according to others.  I can't imagine HAL doesn't have people who read these threads.  Maybe they don't.  I'm scheduled to be on this ship for a 22 day Hawaii trip but I'm not sure it's wise after reading this.  My traveling friend won't be happy with such service.

We are on this cruise next year and have open dining. After reading your experiences I am contemplating changing to late fixed dining. Am I correct that late fixed dining is at 8:00?

6 minutes ago, lstrong said:

For military OBC call your TA and they will send you the form on line to complete 

He actually sent me the web site link. Unfortunately it is set up for future cruises not ones that are already booked. 

Thanks everyone for your replies. I did check my invoice and the TA did put us down for open dining. Having sailed other lines that have you do it all online I thought that is how HAL would do it. Wrong. I am learning slowly!!

I still don’t see where I can view our account with O B C credits. Am I missing something?

Also want to apply for my husband’s military OBC. I did verify he is eligible but they only have a form for future bookings and our cruise is already booked. Oh well. I will figure it out. 
again thanks

Just booked our first HAL cruise. How do you book As you wish dining? I incorrectly assumed that I would do it on website or app. However I didn’t find any place to do it. The website is less than impressive!! I did email my TA about this. 
 

Thanks

Good luck. I purchased  gift cards yesterday. Right after I purchased them I can no

longer log on to aarp. My credit card got charged but I got no confirmation of order. Tried everything from iPhone iPad desk top and three different browsers. Called AARP unfortunately the rep I spoke to was a lovely lady but incompetent. Again today on phone. Finally got a competent rep. The problem resolution division emaile me to call them. That was just to make sure they had all my info correct. He will forward expedited request to resolve this gift card situation. I need it resolved by Friday. A real disaster. After this hopefully gets resolved then we have to deal with not able to log in problem. I am hoping to buy more gift cards for final payment. 
it seems like a spent the last 2 days on the phone with AARP. 😡

Thanks for the info

We are booked on our first HAL  cruise. Does HAL just randomly email upgrade offers or do they have an actual program where you can bid on specific upgrades?

thanks

Thanks!!🙏 

10 minutes ago, Khlela said:

Yes, it was the AARP that caused me problems as well, not HAL. I was worried because I could see my credit card charged but wasn't seeing anything in my email. That's when I called and they said they escalated it to the dedicated web team. They were the ones that ended up calling me telling me that it got fixed and that they emailed the gift cards. So frustrating that you still can't log in! It seems to be on and off for me. I can sometimes on my computer, never on my phone, so frustrating. Hope it's resolved for you soon!

That is exactly what is happening to me. Timing is my problem. I need gift cards by Feb 17. 

It is the aarp website that is causing my problem. Was just on the phone with a rep who seemed knowledgeable. We will see amazing how aarp managed to charge my cc without any problem!!

I still can’t login at all on any device 😡

1 minute ago, mawvkysc said:

@josumello it has taken several hours for my gifts cards to show up the last two times that I bought them. I think it’s a security measure because I bought such a large amount. 
 

You may want to consider using a travel agent if you don’t feel  like messing with the website. Mine input all of my gift card payments to HAL for me. 
 

I still have my first HAL cruise coming up, but lots of people on this board say the website is not indicative of the onboard. experience. 

I do have a great TA. The only reason I had to deal with HAL direct was further info for gift cards. Hopefully I won’t have to deal with them again. Amazing what we go through to save %10. But that is a lot on a 35 day cruise. 🤪

OMG. I don’t know which is worse AARP or HAL. I have spent most of the day trying to sort out the gift cards. I finally was able to get the gift cards after multiple tries. The website basically crashed and wouldn’t let me log on. Had an error code and phone number to call. The lady who tried to help after 20 minutes told me it was time to have the dedicated web team take over. I said great. She then said they would call me in 5 days!!! What a sh** show. I tried my iPads. No go. Then I tried my antiquated desk top. Success!! Still won’t work on iPhone or iPad. Now my next challenge is to see if I get confirmation of gift card purchase. It shows up on my credit card account!!

I won’t even go into the HAL debacle. I certainly hope this is not indicative of the on board experience. 
thanks everyone!!!

5 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

If I was in that situation ( and couldn’t wait till the new month ) I would log in to my mother’s AARP and buy them there. 

I don’t understand what it meant by saying I had Zero standard purchases this month and would have everything reset next month. Makes no sense. 

3 hours ago, Langoustine said:

Yes. They're still there. Try again.

Ok. I just went to purchase the gift cards. It said I hadn’t made 5 standard purchases this month and it would reset next month?? Help!!

Thanks everyone!!

I did do a search for Holland on all rewards and it did come up. Today I am planning to book our first HAL. When I get booking number I will apply for OBC. 

About to book first HAL cruise. I was hoping to buy the gift cards that AARP offered with a %10 discount. When I went to AARP website it was no longer listed. There was. Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, and RCCL. Did I miss seeing  HAL ?

Thanks