MajMom96

Except, of course, if that cost is imagined.

 

Agreed. I do appreciate the source of the reluctance though: All the other cruise lines at the same price point are doing the same kind of things and the only way to get what folks want is to spend more than these mainstream cruise lines charge.

 

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

You’re right on point there that there aren’t any better options at the same price point. Maybe Celebrity. But they have an awful website too, so there’s still that issue! 🤣🤣

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Very interesting MajMom96

 

Did you specifically ask for this free package or did HAL randomly include you when you booked?

 

I ask cause on our Rome pre Trans Atlantic stay I purchased a package which included hotel stay and all transfers from the airport and to the ship.

 

Bob

I didn’t actually “ask” for it. It was advertised on their website at the time we made our booking. You can still find it on the website but it’s not as prominently displayed anymore. The description said it was included if you booked a suite and $900 per person if you booked any other category cabin. So based on that, we did some cost comparisons (cost of the hotel, transfers, an excursion in Venice) as well as the cabin price for a Signature Suite vs. a Balcony and the final cost analysis made sense for us to book the suite and get the Signature Experience included with a nicer cabin. Especially since we were planning on a few days in Venice anyway. We also booked during the Explore 4 promo, so we have that as well. We can’t wait! We leave in 75 days!

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I never said it bothered me, I said your comments are...amusing. Kind of hard to miss the first one.

Not really. This isn’t the most user friendly site. Unless of course you spend 24/7 on line. [emoji12]

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No need for a second thread. Although your comments are quite amusing. :rolleyes:

 

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2645061

Sorry if it bothered you. I didn’t see the first thread until after I posted, but then I noticed the first thread moved off topic pretty quickly, so a second thread may have been more timely.

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I don’t like having anything forced down my throat. I used to watch Oprah ALL the time, but I’m just so over her.

 

 

 

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I agree! Her time has come, and gone. She’s not relevant anymore. She should just take her money and retire!

 

 

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So, I guess the Holland America Facebook page is “blowing up” with negative comments about this latest announcement making Oprah the “Godmother” of the Nieuw Statendam. What is Holland America trying to accomplish with these types of labels? I have nothing against Oprah, but is it really necessary to name a “godmother” of a new ship? Who is HAL trying to appeal to anymore?

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Ditto here on that. There have been a couple of small changes to our August Flights that I booked back in December. Its the kind of things that always happens as the Airlines tweak their schedules. We've had 2 aircraft swaps on our domestic legs, that resulted in our departure 3 minutes later and on our final leg home the swap results in us sitting up front and arriving 5 minutes earlier, as the new plane has a FC cabin and we are travelling Business on the TATL legs.

 

Every time this has happened, I've gotten an email from my TA showing the updated itinerary. With the upgrade to FC, I did have to go onto the airlines site and choose some new seats, as our old seats were back in coach.

 

Cheers,

Nice! What a great feeling to have to go in and choose FC seats! [emoji1303]

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Ok. I’ll admit I enjoy the art auctions. I think they’re fun and entertaining and I enjoy viewing the artwork. As others half said there’s free champagne there’s even raffles and giveaways.

And gasp, horrors of all horrors I’ve actually purchased a few. Not because I thought they were great investments or because myself or my grandkids were going to get wealthy off of them but because I actually liked the artwork.

I am never going to be in the position to own original works of art from famous painters or artists but to have a high quality print that I can enjoy is great for me. When I look at the artwork I purchased it brings back great memories of my cruises.

I don’t mind either way if the Parkwest Gallery is there. My interaction with their staff has always been pleasant. I hope HAL’s new venue is just as enjoyable.

 

 

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It’s good that you enjoy them! There’s nothing wrong with that. If HAL is truly getting rid of Park West, I hope you enjoy the new company just as much! That’s what cruising is all about.....doing what you enjoy! 🥂🥂

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There are times when small changes will show up on your reservation before an email is received, sometimes as much as 24 hrs.

I guess I’ve never been that concerned. Especially when the flights have minor changes every few weeks when the cruise is still months away. I don’t need up to the minute updates until we’re a few days away from leaving to the airport. But usually by then, the airline schedule has settled down and rarely changes.

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That has been our experiences with flight ease and low and behold today, I checked into our flight information and guess what, our return flight time to DTW was changed by eleven minutes. That kind of change is the only kind changes we have experienced. No big deal.

I’ve never had to check flight ease for updates. I get an itinerary change emailed to me by HAL every time there’s a flight update, no matter how minor. And then shortly after that, I get an update from the airline.

We have found that the Explore 4 is the better deal for us and since we already get a great casino rate on our cabins anyway, it makes sense for us to get the extra benefits for the things we use, the drink package and the Pinnacle Grill. But I keep a spreadsheet with the base cabin rate, the “value” of the drink package, and the “value” of the Pinnacle, and periodically check the cabin pricing just to be sure that we are getting the best deal on the total value of the cruise. So far, we’ve always done better with the Explore 4 over any other promo. So it’s nice that HAL offers different promos throughout the year that fit the different priorities of their passengers! [emoji483]

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Walk with your feet (and dollars) if you’re not satisfied. That’s Capitalism at its best! Trust me, if enough people “walk”, they will either make changes or go out of business. It’s the American way! [emoji106]

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Is the signature experience only offered to Neptune suites?

thanks

Bob

No, the Signature Experience was included with any suite at booking. We are in a Signature Suite. You can also purchase it with any other cabin category for $900 per person. It included two nights in Venice (we’re in the Hotel Concordia overlooking St Marks square), all your transfers from airport to hotel and hotel to ship, and the evening in Venice that you’ve read about in this thread.

Why should we bother? No WAy, if we are as tupid as they claim We don't have to prove it to them. By spending a minute of our lives telling them it is too ha rd to book their cruises. Let them figure it out. Not my problem. It is their problem, and they lose business all day, every day.

 

Personally, I have booked no replace ment for the b-to-b i never got confirmation for that booking.

Good thing you have other choices for cruising then. But for me, even though the new website is annoying, it’s not enough for me to stop cruising Holland America. Especially since I have a phone that works just fine for booking cruises! 🤣🤣

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The pricing on the airline website is not the same as Flight Ease pricing (which is one of the main reasons I booked my air through HAL.) Had I booked the same flight directly through the airline the cost would have been much higher.

 

 

 

And unfortunately you can't check the rates on HAL without having a cruise booked and logging into your account. Princess will let you check rates without being logged in to your account so it is much easier to do a dummy booking and check flight options.

🤣🤣🤣Yes, I know that the airline site will show different pricing than HAL. DUH! If you had read my previous post, you would see that I am simply saying that I watch the actual airline pricing to be sure I’m still getting a good deal with flight ease, and I’ve always found that I get a much better deal through HAL. My comments were to help alleviate any concern that the OP had about flight ease pricing being increased.

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One word of caution...be very careful going online and checking prices once you have booked flights through HAL. I was curious what the fares would be if we left from a different airport so logged into my account to check.

 

 

 

A month later I noticed that the air reservations were no longer showing up on my account. Called HAL and they said the reservations had been cancelled online. YIKES! I have no idea how that happened nor did I get any warning that they were being cancelled. All I did (to my knowledge) is change the airport location to see which flights were available.

 

 

 

I was able to rebook the same flights although it came at a cost...$125 dollars more. The outcome would have been much worse if I wouldn't have discovered the cancellations until closer to our cruise. :(

I don’t check the flight pricing through flight ease, I check on the airlines site directly, as though it’s a new booking. I don’t put in any info that could impact my original reservation through flight ease. It’s too easy to click a wrong button! [emoji12]

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sorry about the delay in answering....there were a couple of people walking around with shrimp kabobs, bruschetta like items, pastries with various fillings. on a table they first had many cheeses, fruits, breads and crackers and bite size items like mushrooms. after while this became a selection of sweets and fruits. it was all delicious but might for some have not been enough to consider it dinner. we had a large lunch around 1 pm so it was just right for a light dinner. ( I heard a few people mention either they had dinner reservations around 930 pm at the hotel or they were going to try and find something else to eat when we got back around 9 pm.)

Thanks so much for this additional info! You are really helping us plan accordingly for our Venetian Signature Experience in August.

Question- if we pay $200 more per person we can add the Ready Set Go to our sailing. We figure that the benefits would pretty much be a wash with the fare increase.

 

If Explore 4 comes out next and the fare is where it is now would we get both promos or would E4 replace Ready Set Go? Cruise is in 2019

There are some promos that can be “doubled up”, but not all. If they can’t be “doubled up”, a good booking agent will work out the benefits of both and tell you which is the better deal. And I’ve had success in getting the Explore 4 in addition to a suite OBC promo. The booking agent wasn’t sure both would work together but she gave it a try and both worked! So a good booking agent will be your best friend when it comes to getting the best deal! [emoji483]

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This is interesting, and good to know. I've read a lot of posts saying that they usually do assign you a date/time, and many times it's on the first night or some other undesirable time. Then you have to try to change it to what you want, which results in varying degrees of success.

 

Another option sometimes mentioned is to book (and pay) the PG online for the day/time you want before sailing, then get your paid for reservation switched for the E4 perk (again, with varying degrees of success.

It’s also possible that the process could be ship specific depending on how many Explore 4 passengers they have on board on a specific itinerary. [emoji483]

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We’ve used flight ease several times for European itineraries and have never had our fares increase, even though the direct booking with the airline fares for the same schedules increased significantly as we approached our departure date. We would check the airline rates periodically just to assure ourselves that we were getting a good deal with flight ease and we were always pleased. [emoji483]

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We will be going on the Maasdam this summer. We will have a $100 onboard credit. I was hoping that I might be able to get some earrings, ring or a bracelet or something for my daughter's birthday. She will be turning 15. Do you think that they have anything reasonable in the shops?

I got my daughter a Swarovski crystal wrap bracelet on a HAL cruise. She loves it! I can’t recall how much it was but I think it was around $30. You can Google them to see what I’m talking about.

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Never Sailed HAL, considering 4 day Pacific Coastal Eurodam April 29 2019.

 

I understand all cabins are GTY since it is a reposition and from other threads feel I understand how GTY works.

 

 

 

My thinking is 'any Verandah, any Deck', will be fine for 4 Day - so book cheapest VF $399 pp. Right ?

 

 

 

But for $50 more pp we could pick VB GTY and maybe get cabin on the rear - is this desirable ?

 

(I do see lots of VB on Verandah deck Fore and Aft so maybe scoring a Rear is not likely)

 

 

 

I made a cheat sheet from Deck Plans and think I can steer to various decks by choosing VD, VC, etc..

 

 

 

So why are VA, most expensive, on Mid Navigation - below Lido deck Noisy ? Aren't higher decks less desirable?

Try calling a HAL booking agent rather than booking on line. They can sometimes override the constraints with online booking and actually let you select your cabin. It worked for me on the Nieuw Amsterdam 4 day coastal this year. And I definitely agree with sticking with the Eurodam to dine at the Tamarind! It’s definitely worth it!

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I’m just hoping they still offer the Explore 4 this year! With all the other changes, I hope they don’t try and “improve” the Explore 4! [emoji12]

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Explore4 2017 Terms & Conditions

 

 

 

Signature Beverage Package has a daily limit of 15 beverages, which includes all beverages priced at US$9.00 or lower. Guests must order beverages one at a time and must be 21 years or older for alcoholic beverages. Sharing is not permitted. Beverage management reserves the right to revoke the package if misused and refuse service for any reason, including service of alcoholic beverages to intoxicated guests. Package excludes purchases made in Signature Shops, Mini Bar and In Room Dining, or beverages on Half Moon Cay.

 

 

 

Pinnacle Grill dinner: Guests receive one dinner per person. Reservations and dining times will be assigned and a confirmation card will be placed in your stateroom upon embarkation day. Offer excludes Specialty Dining Events in the Pinnacle Grill such as Le Cirque, De Librije, Master Chef’s Table and Sommelier Dinner.

 

 

 

Free or reduced fares for 3rd/4th guests are based on sharing a stateroom with 1st and 2nd guests, valid on select sailings, and are based on Promo Z3.

 

 

 

Reduced Deposit is valid for new bookings only. Bookings made on voyages requiring immediate final payment are not eligible for a reduced deposit.

 

 

 

Suite offer: Onboard Spending Money is US$100 per guest (U$S200 per suite) is non-refundable, transferable, not for cash value, expires at the end of that cruise, and may not be used in the casino. Offers are capacity controlled, and may be modified or withdrawn without prior notice. Other restrictions may apply.

All sounds correct with one minor comment on the Pinnacle Grill. When we had the Explore 4 in May 2017, we received a card confirming that we had a night at the Pinnacle Grill but the night or time were not specified. The card instructed us to call Dining reservations to make our Pinnacle reservation, so we were able to reserve it when we wanted.

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I doubt it will help, you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

Well I know one thing for certain, It definitely won’t help if you don’t send a comment, so it’s at least worth a try. And having worked in an industry that relied heavily on customer feedback, it certainly can’t hurt to take a few minutes to send in a concern. It won’t take any longer to do that than it takes to make a negative comment on this site, and at least there’s a chance that it gets to someone who cares.