Horizon chaser 1957

We go through CARP (the Canadian branch of AARP, for those wondering). It covers pre-existing conditions, BUT you have to let them know about any changes to them before you leave home. If the condition changes while you’re traveling, it’s covered. The top up is higher per day, but not bad. For something lengthy, like our 2023 World Cruise, the cheapest and best option was buying a separate plan that began 18 days after we left Canada. We live close to the Sumas border crossing, and randomly pop down to the US for the day. The multi trip plan covers us if we get in an accident or have a heart attack, which can happen as easily in Bellingham as in Vancouver, and we don't have to pre-plan anything. We were lucky here when the snow hit. We got maybe 20% at most of what Vancouver did!

We have an annual plan that covers an unlimited number of trips up to 18 days in length each. If we go on something longer, we buy a top up for the extra days beyond 18. So we’re covered for late notice standby.

Does anyone know if your Mariner Benefits apply?

We booked through our TA, so I’ll need to let her know it could be VERY late notice. She is under the 7 day confirmation impression, too.

Wow, am I glad I found this thread! Quite some time ago we booked the standby offer for the 5 day April 30 Noordam out of Vancouver. We were still under the 7 day impression. So if we haven’t heard anything by April 29, we will have the car gassed, and the bags packed. We’re a 2 hour drive from the port, so even morning of will work. 90 minutes, not so much. My fingers are crossed.

I doubt that even matters to the poster. Removing the daily gratuities and ostentatiously tipping a select few publicly is an excellent way to appear generous while actually being cheap and saving a bundle. If he sticks to his promise never to sail with HAL again, that is the most considerate gift he could possibly offer our hard working crew.

Good morning, all! We are on a rare not- at- sea vacation in Puerto Vallarta, and my pictures from Sharm el Sheikh are not with me. I don’t think this winter’s GWV is stopping there after all. Today is packing up and heading home. It will feel cold, but a week from now the temperatures drop into the negative double digits, so our timing is lucky. Happy Friday, everyone! Bon voyage to those setting out on new adventures. Prayers for those in pain, grief, or difficulty. My schedule has changed and I’m not often on early enough in the day to comment, but I still lurk and read later in the day!

Yes, it is definitely a win!😁 I feel much better about the whole thing now. We get on the tour boat for the same price we paid originally, plus enough OBC for a few drinks!

OK - so I got HAL’s decision late yesterday:

Luckily a few people have responded who have been successful under the same circumstances. But now their dilemma - is it cheaper to refund me the price difference in OBC, or to buy EVERYONE a previously unmentioned waffle?🤔

That's my hope. And I love ‘Thank you for your interest in the Best Price Guarantee Program’. It sounds like I’m trying out for a position on a sports team, or a job interview. Maybe they only pick one successful candidate?😂

Many thanks for these! This is the exact position I’m in. HAL has taken over the tour we had booked, and has added nothing extra. My fingers are crossed.

So, I submitted the claim the morning of December 19. They state you will get a response within 2 business days. On December 22 I received this:

Actually, I did book with HAL first. Then I found this tour company online and booked through them. After booking privately, I cancelled the HAL tour. A few weeks later, the tour company emailed me and said that the cruise company had booked their tour exclusively and they had to cancel my tickets. After being refunded, I rebooked the same tour with HAL (again). AFTER rebooking with HAL, I went to the tour companies website and took screenshots. The tour times HAL has booked up are still listed, with the price, but marked as sold out. The last tour time is still available, and for the original price. HAL didn’t buy out that one because it ends after all aboard. After booking the exact same blasted tour three times, and having it cancelled twice, I’m no longer sure which came first, the chicken or the egg.

The request form has been submitted. They are supposed to respond within two business days. So now we wait. i will let you know what they say.

Oh, but it IS the same time. The company runs the tour four times a day. HAL has booked three of them. HAL’s excursion times are exactly the same as the originals offered privately. In fact, we will be on the exact departure we were booked on privately. As @Mary229 suggests, I will throw the pasta at the wall and see if it sticks.

Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for. In our case, it is the exact tour on the exact boat we had booked and been bumped from. He runs four tours a day. HAL has booked three, but not the last departure since it ends after all aboard. I checked carefully. There are no added bits, like ‘On the way back to the pier, you will stop for a photo opportunity at the local fishing dock. See fishermen gutting fish and swearing in Icelandic exactly as their ancestors did a hundred years ago. If you are lucky, you may get to sample freshly chopped cod cheeks scales and all. A rare delicacy not to be missed!’ We will be on the same boat, possibly the same seat, on the same tour at the exact time we originally booked. If this gets denied, then yes, it’s a sham promise.

Well, he’s running the tour again at 3 pm, and we’re booked on the 1 PM. But yes, I’m wondering if they get shady with this. ‘Oh, that’s not a comparable tour, that’s the same tour. It doesn’t count.’

I missed that! Yes, I meant puffins. Guilty of distracted typing here!😄

Has anyone ever claimed HAL’s Best Price Guarantee on Shore Excursions? How does it work? A few months ago I booked a Penguin watching excursion through a private company for our Iceland cruise. Later, the tour boat operator contacted me and regretfully had to cancel our booking. Holland America had a cruise ship in that day, and had booked the full boat for all three tours while the ship was in port. He was able to offer us the last tour after the ship left, or another day. Obviously those don’t work for us, so we got a refund. Now I have booked the same tour through HAL for 2 1/2 times the cost of my original booking. We will be in exactly the same boat doing exactly the same tour I had booked, no extra add ons to ensure it’s technically a different tour. I have all the emails and receipts for proof. Is the Best Price Guarantee legit? How do I go about submitting a claim?

Thanks to all for the input. In the end, I’ve booked the Aloft, Boston Seaport. It’s a short taxi ride from the airport, walking distance to the cruise terminal, has really good review, and is completely covered by our Expedia points. We arrive late enough we’re just having dinner and calling it a night, so there’s just the one full day. The hotel is close to public transport, so we’re getting day passes and heading in to town for the day. Last time we had a port of call day in Boston, we had lunch at The Boston Sail Loft. We’re definitely headed back there this time!

What area/ hotels WOULD you recommend for two nights with touring pre cruise? We’re on the same cruise as crystalspin, late July 2024.

There are always a few that ruin things for everyone. When and how a person trades and holds their stocks for the purpose of investments is their own business. However, I have seen people boast on these forums about cleverly buying 100 shares of CCL stock solely for the purpose of getting OBC, printing out the shareholders proof, and selling the stock again within an hour or so of buying it. The printout is kept and used to claim shareholders credit for cruises they book later on. THAT is a deliberate scam, pure and simple. That is why the rest of us are facing new hoops to jump through.

No, HAL is not like it was five years ago. Neither are the other cruise lines, our favorite restaurants, familiar hotels, the local supermarket, the doctors office, or anything else I can think of. Times have changed. Compare HAL now to everything else now instead of comparing to standards of yesterday. I’m still happy with what we’re getting for what we’re paying.

I couldn’t agree more. When someone needs to brag about their status, you need to find different people to talk to. In my early days with HAL, I was at a wine tasting with a group of people who all turned out to be 4*. When I mentioned I wasn’t, one ‘lady’ looked at me like I was something nasty on the side of her shoe. I felt like dirt. At dinner I told the story to our regular table mates. One said ‘You should have told her you were me.’ When I looked confused, she handed me her key card - with the 5* symbol. We’d shared a table every day for over three weeks. I knew her history, her family details, her pets, her hobbies, pictures of her house redecorating, and more. She never mentioned her Mariner status until the issue of a lesser Mariner snubbing her new friend over star levels came up. Most people on HAL are more like my friend and less like the puffed up free wine taster.